Elon Musk’s approach to innovation and business practices has drawn substantial criticism, with some comparing him to notorious fraudster Bernie Madoff. Musk’s strategy, it appears, centers around a common swindler’s tactic: promising what people want to hear rather than delivering on feasible, tangible results.

Musk’s modus operandi seems to consist of peddling dreams and collecting upfront funds in exchange for assurances of future glory and riches. This approach is eerily reminiscent of advanced fee fraud, an intentionally deceitful scheme popularized in Africa as the “419 Scam” that relies on zero real-world skills or expertise.

Here is January 10th, 2016 for just one of hundreds and hundreds of examples:

Not only did this Model S fail to deliver any of such fraudulent promises to arrive in 2018, it has become more and more difficult to sell — ranked lower and lower over just five years since Musk’s deadline to become the least desirable used car in America.

False “luxury” marketing has basically been exposed by harsh reality, a brand quickly being driven to worthless status. Junkyards don’t even want one.

What sets Musk apart, and not in a positive way, is his penchant for taking inspiration from science fiction books and movies and then using his platform, whether a keyboard or microphone, to instantly spin grandiose tales of fantastical innovation and beg for undeserved attention from the most gullible and non-technical. These narratives are presented as fact solely because Musk decrees it, devoid of any genuine foundation, technical merit or logical reasoning.

A prime example of this tendency is Musk’s recent attempt to market a fictional Truck as a “survival” tool, even falsely trying to link to concepts popularized in the science fiction movie “Blade Runner.” It’s crucial to emphasize that the operative word here is “fiction.” The appeal of the flying car in the movie stemmed from its fictional nature—it could actually fly.

Yet, Musk seeks to convince the public that he’s working on bringing fictional technology to life. The reality, however, is so far from his grandiose claims it’s a giant predictable disaster.

Can you imagine a guy in the age of early hot air balloons who tries to rob people by taking payments for promises of expensive rides to the moon?

Elon Musk is that kind of grifter.

The actual product he has now touted as being the flying car from the future depicted in Bladerunner is far from anything that flies. In fact, it can’t even make it off the production line, let alone soar through the sky. Instead, it’s mired in technical difficulties and setbacks. Test after test reveals control arm failures on the earthly terrain, getting stuck in a little mud, being abandoned on the side of a paved road… far, far, far from rolling forward let alone any flight capabilities.

In essence, Musk’s creation is the antithesis of anything that flies, making his assertions nothing short of deceptive. Those who choose to associate themselves with Musk or invite him into discussions should be prepared to distance themselves, as his track record is a concerning blend of hype and hyperbole — laced with his brand of conspiratorial paranoid antisemitism, racism and misogyny — that fails to deliver on his obvious fraudulent promises.

Outside a courthouse, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, notified reporters “this kind of corruption is as old as time.”

Related: My 2019 BSidesLV presentation “AIs Wide Open”

Bladerunner was supposed to be science fiction. And yet here we are today with bots running loose beyond their intended expiration and with companies trying to hire security people to terminate them.

All I’m saying as a security expert who has worked with robotic safety issues for many years… if you see a Tesla Truck operating in public, and you serve as law enforcement, you probably should immediately Bladerunner it.

Some might blame the unregulated social media moguls for intentionally fomenting hate.

Whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Threads or Twitter/X, engagement-farming algorithms calibrated to feed users continual doses of outrage to keep them scrolling are helping to entrench hatred, he says.

“Social media has been amplifying the hate for a decade as algorithms wind us up,” the CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square posted…

That’s pretty direct criticism, but I have to point out Malcolm Nance said it much better.

Regardless of cause, despite how obvious it might be that Elon Musk’s family were known for being anti-Semitic, the FBI wants people to recognize a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks.

“The reality is that the Jewish community is uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum. And when you look at a group that makes up 2.4 percent, roughly, of the American population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60 percent of all religious based hate crimes, and so they need our help,” [FBI Director] Wray said. “This is a threat that is reaching, in some ways, sort of historic levels.”

Related: Twitter’s new logo is a Nazi swastika. Also related:

…fire was set during the night in the Jewish section of Vienna’s central cemetery and swastikas were sprayed on external walls.

The SEC has announced charges against the company and its Chief Information Security Officer.

The complaint alleges that, from at least its October 2018 initial public offering through at least its December 2020 announcement that it was the target of a massive, nearly two-year long cyberattack, dubbed “SUNBURST,” SolarWinds and Brown defrauded investors by overstating SolarWinds’ cybersecurity practices and understating or failing to disclose known risks. In its filings with the SEC during this period, SolarWinds allegedly misled investors by disclosing only generic and hypothetical risks at a time when the company and Brown knew of specific deficiencies in SolarWinds’ cybersecurity practices as well as the increasingly elevated risks the company faced at the same time.

SolarWinds has countered the charges by claiming that being open and honest about their weakneses, executives telling truth to the street if you will, would undermine national security.

This SEC action may not get rid of all fraudsters posing as CISO in so many places — those who expect C-level pay with no real qualifications or responsibility — but it’s a start.

Related: SolarWinds is a Dust Bowl Disaster of Modern Computing