Fake Boring Flamethrower Site Accepts Crypto Payments

A site resembling the sales page of the Boring Company has added a crypto payment option for its “not-a-flamethrower” products, using the Coinbase Commerce technology. But skeptics saw through the scam since the flamethrowers are no longer on sale.

It is unknown how many products the fake site has peddled. The official one states that sales have been completed, but they continue on the alternative crypto-funded venture.

Social media helped spread the scam:

https://twitter.com/skystruckcrypto/status/1053129239988363264

TheBoringFlamethrower.com website is still working, potentially scamming people out of their hard-earned cash or crypto. Every mention of crypto assets in relation to Elon Musk excites the crypto community, especially at times when general enthusiasm has waned.

Users with Coinbase accounts had the choice of paying in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, or Ethereum. However, the option does not mean there is a way to anonymously or pseudonymously acquire a flamethrower. Coinbase is a full KYC exchange, and the purchase is, in fact, quite close to a fiat-based procedure.

Luckily, the crypto payment does not go through, and the scammers have not directly placed a crypto coin address for the payment.

Regardless of the type of payment, this may be a case of a faked website and a scam. Given that crypto transactions are not refundable, the scam becomes even worse. The purchase page was still active as of 10:00 UTC on Friday.

The flamethrower products are openly sold as a form of crowdfunding for the Boring Company in an attempt to build the Hyperloop underground transportation system. The products are deliberately overpriced, along with a batch of fire extinguishers, to boost the crowdfunding rate.

Scammers have used the name of Elon Musk before, examples including Ethereum giveaway scams on Twitter. They went so far that the social media platform banned all copycat Elon Musk accounts.