World's oldest tortoise caught in viral crypto death scam [View all]
Source: Guardian
At 194 years old, Jonathan the giant tortoise was a youngster when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne – and has now lived long enough to fall victim to a crypto scam.
News outlets including the BBC, Daily Mail and USA Today falsely reported his death after an X account posing as Jonathan’s vet broke the news.
The post, attributed to “Joe Hollins”, claimed: “Heartbroken to share that our beloved Jonathan, the world’s oldest living land animal, has passed away today peacefully on Saint Helena.
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Though the post received 2m views and was reported as fact by the UK’s national broadcaster, checks by the Guardian revealed the account was based in Brazil. The real vet, who does not use X, said: “Jonathan the tortoise is very much alive. I believe on X the person purporting to be me is asking for crypto donations, so it’s not even an April fool joke. It’s a con.”
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/02/worlds-oldest-tortoise-crypto-death-scam
The imposter was asking for crypto donations.
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