{"id":58100,"date":"2026-04-15T12:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/?p=58100"},"modified":"2026-04-15T12:45:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:45:56","slug":"tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\/","title":{"rendered":"Tory Senedd Candidate caught replying to \u2018Tesla phone\u2019 scams on X"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"58100\" class=\"elementor elementor-58100\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-74057051 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"47272\" data-id=\"74057051\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3acee2c0\" data-eae-slider=\"2418\" data-id=\"3acee2c0\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aefe999 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"aefe999\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>By Olivia Griffin <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Online replies from a Welsh Conservative politician highlight growing concerns over scams and public figures\u2019 social media use.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">A Welsh Conservative Senedd Candidate and previous Member of the Senedd has replied to several posts on X appearing to promote a common social media scam involving fake \u201cTesla phone\u201d giveaways linked to tech billionaire Elon Musk.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Screenshots shared online show Janet Finch-Saunders responding to posts encouraging users to reply \u2018YES\u2019 or react in order to receive the device. No such \u2018Tesla phone\u2019 product currently exists, and similar posts are widely associated with scams circulating on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Finch-Saunders, who has represented the North Wales constituency of Aberconwy in the Senedd since 2011, replied \u2018YES\u2019 to one such post and responded with a thumbs-up emoji to another similar message. In a separate reply to a parody account referencing Musk, she also answered \u2018Yes\u2019 when asked whether the billionaire entrepreneur was \u201can American hero\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-image uagb-block-060e755f wp-block-uagb-image--layout-default wp-block-uagb-image--effect-static wp-block-uagb-image--align-none\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-uagb-image__figure\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"uag-image-58104\" title=\"WhatsApp Image 2026-04-15 at 12.36.24\" role=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-15-at-12.36.24-823x1080.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1150\" height=\"1510\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The accounts involved appear to be commentary or parody profiles rather than official accounts connected to Musk. Posts promoting a supposed Tesla phone giveaway are commonly used as engagement-bait scams, designed to encourage users to interact with content before directing them to fraudulent websites.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Online scams referencing well-known public figures have become increasingly common across platforms including X and Facebook. Fraudsters frequently use the names and images of high-profile figures to promote fake product launches or giveaways, encouraging users to like, comment or share posts before directing them to external websites requesting personal information or payment details.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Cybersecurity organisations have repeatedly warned about the prevalence of such schemes, which rely on the credibility of widely recognised figures to attract engagement and build trust among users.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The incident comes amid wider scrutiny of how politicians use social media and the responsibilities attached to online activity. Under the Senedd\u2019s Code of Conduct, Members must not behave in a way likely to bring the institution or its Members into disrepute. Guidance accompanying the Code makes clear that the rules apply both inside and outside the Senedd, including activity on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-image uagb-block-dadda075 wp-block-uagb-image--layout-default wp-block-uagb-image--effect-static wp-block-uagb-image--align-none\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-uagb-image__figure\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"uag-image-58105\" title=\"WhatsApp Image 2026-04-15 at 12.36.23\" role=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-15-at-12.36.23-1080x1080.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1131\" height=\"1131\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">The Code states that Members must \u201cact in a manner which maintains public trust and confidence in the integrity of the Senedd and its Members\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Recent reporting has also highlighted what standards officials described as a potential gap in the rules governing social media posts made in the name of Senedd Members. An investigation by the Senedd\u2019s Standards Commissioner previously examined complaints about posts published in the name of a Member but written by a staff member managing their account.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Although the investigation did not find a breach of the Code, the Commissioner concluded that the rules did not explicitly state that Members were responsible for posts made on their behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Following the investigation, the Senedd\u2019s Standards Committee recommended clarifying the Code so that Members remain accountable for social media posts published under their name, even if they are written or posted by staff. The committee noted that when comments are shared in the name of an elected representative, the authority of that position can lend additional weight to the message.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-image uagb-block-a8e54546 wp-block-uagb-image--layout-default wp-block-uagb-image--effect-static wp-block-uagb-image--align-none\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-uagb-image__figure\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"uag-image-58107\" title=\"WhatsApp Image 2026-04-15 at 12.36.24 (1)\" role=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-15-at-12.36.24-1-1-832x1080.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1098\" height=\"1425\" \/><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">As the report stated, \u201cthe status of a Member of the Senedd may lend credibility to comments posted online\u201d. The committee also warned that posts made by public office holders can have wider consequences, particularly when they refer to individuals, organisations or commercial entities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Social media has become an increasingly important platform for political communication, allowing politicians to engage directly with constituents and participate in public debate. At the same time, the speed and informality of online interaction can expose public figures to misinformation, parody accounts and scam content.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Finch-Saunders previously served as a councillor on Conwy County Borough Council before entering the Senedd and sat in the last Senedd session as part of the Welsh Conservative group.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Finch-Saunders has been contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of writing.<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Olivia Griffin Online replies from a Welsh Conservative politician highlight growing concerns over scams and public figures\u2019 social media use. A Welsh Conservative Senedd Candidate and previous Member of the Senedd has replied to several posts on X appearing to promote a common social media scam involving fake \u201cTesla phone\u201d giveaways linked to tech billionaire Elon Musk. Screenshots shared online show Janet Finch-Saunders responding &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Tory Senedd Candidate caught replying to \u2018Tesla phone\u2019 scams on X<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":58101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[8286],"tags":[5821,2963,2374,6572],"class_list":["post-58100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-conservative-party","tag-news","tag-senedd","tag-welsh-elections"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tory Senedd Candidate caught replying to \u2018Tesla phone\u2019 scams on X - Gair Rhydd<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tory Senedd Candidate caught replying to \u2018Tesla phone\u2019 scams on X - Gair Rhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Olivia Griffin Online replies from a Welsh Conservative politician highlight growing concerns over scams and public figures\u2019 social media use. 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Screenshots shared online show Janet Finch-Saunders responding &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/news\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gair Rhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gairrhydd\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T11:36:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T11:45:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\/gairrhydd\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/1280px-Janet-finch-saunders.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor in Chief\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor in Chief\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Editor in Chief\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dd07a556861fb4c429c028a10ca16b54\"},\"headline\":\"Tory Senedd Candidate caught replying to \u2018Tesla phone\u2019 scams on X\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T11:36:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-15T11:45:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":659,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/1280px-Janet-finch-saunders.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Conservative Party\",\"News\",\"Senedd\",\"welsh elections\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cardiffstudentmedia.co.uk\\\/gairrhydd\\\/news\\\/tory-senedd-candidate-caught-replying-to-tesla-phone-scams-on-x\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tory Senedd Candidate caught replying to \u2018Tesla phone\u2019 scams on X - 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