A woman has Elon Musk’s old number, and people won’t stop texting her

When Lyndsay Tucker tells an unknown incoming texter or caller that they have the wrong number, the person on the other side doesn’t always believe her. They think she’s playing some sort of game or simply lying on behalf of the person he or she attempted to reach: Elon Musk.

Nearly every person who owns a phone has been on the receiving end of a call due to the dialing of a mistaken number, but that’s not what’s happening here. According to NPR, Tucker’s random texters have the right number, it’s just old and no longer owned by Musk. 

“I asked my mom, ‘Hey, I keep getting these text messages’ — and I was also now starting to get phone calls — ‘for this guy Elon Musk,’ ” Tucker said. “‘I don’t know who this is.’ And my mom’s jaw just dropped.”

The calls and texts started a couple years ago when AT&T assigned the previously used number to Tucker. NPR says the number was tied to one of Musk’s old condos in Palo Alto, California, and it has since been spread throughout the internet as a contact for Musk. Since Tucker took ownership of the number, she’s seen an assortment of requests from an assortment of people. One was from the IRS, another was somebody asking to order 1,000 Cybertrucks, and another sent a picture of a Terminator-like hand with an expression of interest in working together on bionics. When there’s controversy surrounding Musk, such as him tweeting that the Tesla stock is too high, the number of incoming texts and calls spikes. Even the author of the article once texted Tucker looking for Musk. 

NPR has provided screenshots of some of the conversations Tucker has had with various inquiring minds. Check them all out and have a chuckle on NPR.

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