Canadian man faces eviction after falling for an elaborate Elon Musk scam: 'It was really methodological'

“He started asking me about what I do,” said Karim to the Times Colonist. “I started straight away, giving him my story, that I had just undergone an operation and now I’m doing the chemo.”

The scammer promised him millions of dollars and a free Tesla — but only if Karim would send the fraudster money first. Karim followed through, sending the pretend Musk enough money that he was unable to pay his rent.

“It was really methodological,” said Karim to the Times Colonist. “Step by step, they got me wrapped up.”

The 61-year-old is now facing eviction if he can’t pay back $3,600 in missed rent payments.

Here’s how the scammer defrauded Karim — and what you can do to avoid similar scams.

The Elon Musk impersonator used Apple gift cards to enact a scam there’s ‘no real way to trace’

Karim’s goals for messaging the faux Musk were honorable: He wanted to provide for his extended family in Sierra Leone. He wanted to build a six-bedroom house for them, something he was almost able to do before he was diagnosed with cancer.

Unfortunately, not only is Karim out the $5 million the fraudster promised, but he’s also unlikely to get his money back.

The scammer asked Karim to send his payments in Apple gift cards, not in regular cash. That makes it harder for police to return the payments.

“Once they scratch that back off and transfer the monetary value of that… it’s gone,” said Sgt. Brent Keleher of the Victoria Police Department to the Times Colonist. “There’s no real way to trace it, as I’ve been told by Apple.”

In America, one out of four people who lose money to fraud said the scammer asked for money through gift cards in 2021, while Canadians lost over $6.8 million in gift card fraud in 2024.

If you report the scam before the scammer takes money off the card, you might be able to take it back; if they’ve already taken it off, you’re likely out of luck.

Karim says the fraudster asked him to buy the gift cards himself and send the card numbers and security codes through WhatsApp and Telegram. Both apps are popular with scammers because they’re end-to-end encrypted and they allow scammers to hide their personal information.

How to protect yourself against imposter scams like this one

Always be wary if a famous person contacts you online — you’re likely a target for an imposter scam, where someone pretends to be someone else to trick you into giving them money.