Tysen Lefebvre, the Stittsville teen who recently raised $1 million for Make-a-Wish, says someone is impersonating him on Instagram and soliciting money.
The fake account “tysens_mission_to_a_million_” had 51 followers as of Thursday night and appears to have been set up Nov. 6, with photos stolen from the real Lefebvre uploaded that day to make it appear legitimate. It links to Lefebvre’s fundraiser website, but the URL is misspelled so directs to a site which does not exist.
Several Twitter uses reported that the account had sent them direct messages asking for money. It is not clear if anyone has been scammed into giving money.
“I’m so sad this is happening,” Lefebvre tweeted on Thursday. “I’m sorry if anyone was contacted or asked for (money)… I don’t (direct message) anyone asking for more.”
Lefebvre added that the account was reported to Instagram. It was taken down Thursday evening.
Lefebvre’s real Instagram account is “tysens_mission_to_a_million”, with no underscore at the end. Donations for his fundraiser are accepted at missiontoamillion.ca, which processes donations via PayPal.
Correction: Due to a lack of coffee, we wrote Wednesday when we meant Thursday. Sorry for any confusion.