A Florida principal has resigned after sending an enormous sum of school funds to a scammer posing as Elon Musk.
Jan McGee, the principal of a high ranking charter school in the state allegedly was misled by a scammer posing as Musk with offers to invest millions in the school in exchange for an upfront payment, and an extension in her car warranty apparently, as well. Check this out.
The longtime principal of a high-achieving Florida charter school stepped down Tuesday night after she sent $100,000 in school funds to an internet scammer posing as billionaire Elon Musk, according to reports.
Jan McGee, who had led Burns Science and Technology Charter School since its 2011 inception, said someone claiming to be the tech mogul offered to invest millions into the popular STEM school in exchange for an upfront payment.
How does one get scammed by a fake Elon Musk? My first thought would be “why would he want money upfront?”. That in and of itself should have set off alarm bells. Secondly, wouldn’t Musk communicate in a more conventional manner than email or a social media message? I’d like to think Musk has people for this sort of thing, were it to be legit.
But hey, accidents happen right? Certainly other skeptical staffers would talk her out of the large transaction. Guess not.
The school’s skeptical business manager eventually learned of the arrangement and managed to cancel the transaction before the money cleared, according to WESH.
But the controversy roiled parents and board members, who insisted that McGee was inexplicably reckless with crucial school funds.
Several speakers at Tuesday night’s meeting stressed that McGee’s colleagues told her that she was being swindled, but that she ignored them and insisted on sending out the payment.
Ouch. Talk about an “I told you so”. Perhaps the fake Musk should have portrayed himself as a Nigerian prince. Stick to the classics.
"Jan McGee – the principal of Burns Science and Technology charter school in Oak Hill – claimed she spent months talking to a man online who was pretending to be the richest man on Earth…"#BecauseFlorida https://t.co/Y3GhJrPNl9
— SFDB (@sfdb) March 29, 2023
Despite being a once respected leader, the school board was understandably upset.
After angry board members said they could no longer work under her and threatened to quit, McGee resigned on the spot and left the school building, to cheers from the audience.
“I love this school more than anything else. If it means your administration is going to stay, I’m turning in my resignation,” McGee said at the Volusia County gathering.
McGee previously acknowledged that she had corresponded with the ersatz Elon for months before signing off on the check.
The rural school in Oak Hill enrolls roughly 1,000 students and has lengthy waiting lists, according to WESH.
At least McGee did the honorable thing and quit. There would be no way for her to move forward after a blunder of that magnitude.
And what of the scammer that spent weeks setting the hook for McGee, only to have her slip off at the last minute. Certainly his village in Pakistan or wherever else he was scamming from was very disappointed.
The poor fellow will probably have to go back to scam IRS calls, and selling viagra over the phone. Turns out you can’t win, whether you are the scammer or the victim.
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