Scams in Canada: the numbers, the warning signs and how to report one

Fraud in Canada by the numbers

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) received more than 112,000 fraud reports in 2025, with more than $704 million in reported losses. Since 2022, reported losses have passed $2.4 billion. These are only the cases people reported: the CAFC estimates that just 5% to 10% of frauds reach it.

Investment fraud alone cost reported victims $351 million in 2025, half of all losses. The most often reported frauds were identity fraud, investment fraud and service fraud. In the first six months of 2026, reported losses were already about $351 million, with extortion losses passing the full 2025 total and bank investigator fraud close behind.

Police-reported fraud is counted separately by Statistics Canada; see the police-reported fraud numbers for every province and city.

The scams police warn about most

• Investment and crypto scams: fake trading platforms and ads using deepfake videos of politicians, police chiefs or celebrities. The account shows growing "profits" to get you to deposit more, then asks for fees or taxes before you can withdraw. This is the costliest scam in Canada.
• Bank investigator scam: a caller posing as your bank’s fraud department or the police says your account is compromised and asks you to move money to a "safe" account, withdraw cash, buy gold or hand your card to a courier. Your bank and the police never ask for this.
• Government impersonation: a call or text claiming to be the CRA, Service Canada, the RCMP or immigration officials says you owe money or face arrest or deportation. Government agencies never demand payment by gift card, crypto, wire transfer or cash.
• Grandparent or emergency scam: a call from a "grandchild", lawyer or officer saying a relative is in jail or hurt and needs bail money right now, often with a courier sent to pick up cash. Courts do not collect bail by courier or gift card.
• Romance scam: someone you met online but never in person builds trust over weeks, then needs money for travel, medical bills or an investment they are "sure" about.
• Job and task scams: an offer to earn money by rating products or apps online, where you must deposit your own money to "unlock" tasks or earnings. Another version asks you to receive and forward money, which can make you a money mule.
• Extortion and sextortion: someone threatens to share intimate images (real or made with AI), or threatens you or your family, unless you pay. Young people are often targeted; Cybertip.ca can help remove images.
• Phishing texts: messages that look like they come from Canada Post, a toll highway, a bank, Amazon or a streaming service with a link to "pay a small fee" or "verify your account". The link steals your card or login.
• Online marketplace and rental scams: fake buyers who overpay and ask for a refund, sellers who take a deposit for an item or apartment that does not exist, and fake e-transfer notifications.
• Recovery scams: after a first scam, someone claiming to be the police, a lawyer, a government office or even the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre offers to get your money back for a fee. The CAFC never contacts people to ask for money.

Warning signs

• Pressure to act right now and to keep it secret, even from family or your bank.
• Payment by gift cards, crypto, a Bitcoin machine, wire transfer or cash handed to a courier.
• A caller ID that shows a real police, bank or government number: it can be faked.
• A request to move your money to a "safe account", or to change where a payment goes.
• Returns or prizes that are too good to be true, or a fee to receive money.
• A video of a public figure promoting an investment: assume it is fake.

How to check if something is a scam

• Hang up and call back using a number you find yourself: the back of your card, your statement or the official website. Never use a number or link given in the call, text or email.
• Do not click links in unexpected texts or emails. Open the company’s app or type its address yourself.
• Take five minutes and tell someone you trust. Scammers count on you acting alone and fast.
• Look up the name of the company or platform with the word "scam", and check the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s list of current frauds.
• For an investment, check that the firm is registered with your provincial securities regulator before sending any money.

If you paid or shared your details

• Call your bank or card issuer right away, using the number on your card, to stop payments, lock accounts and ask about a chargeback.
• Report it to your local police and get a file number.
• Report it online at the Report Cybercrime and Fraud website or to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501, even if you lost nothing.
• If your ID was shared, ask Equifax and TransUnion to put a fraud alert on your credit file, change your passwords and turn on two-step verification.
• Keep the messages, phone numbers, receipts, screenshots and wallet addresses. Do not delete the conversation.
• Do not pay anyone who offers to "recover" your money for a fee: that is often a second scam.

How to report a scam in Canada

• Your local police: for any loss, threat or extortion. Call 911 if you or someone else is in danger right now.
• Report Cybercrime and Fraud (reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca): the national online system run by the RCMP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Reports are shared with police.
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by phone: 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern time.
• Spam texts: forward the message to 7726 (SPAM) so your carrier can block the sender.
• Misleading ads or business practices: the Competition Bureau.
• A child or teen threatened with intimate images: Cybertip.ca and the police.
• Tax scams using the CRA name: the CRA’s scam page explains how to confirm a real CRA contact.

What the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre does

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is Canada’s central agency for fraud reports. It is run jointly by the RCMP, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau. It collects reports from victims and businesses, links cases, shares information with police across Canada and abroad, and publishes warnings about current scams.

The criminal investigation of your case is usually done by your local police, which is why you should report to both. Fraudsters often pretend to be the CAFC: the real centre never calls to ask for money or to offer to recover your losses for a fee.

Is it a crime?

• Fraud (s. 380): up to 14 years in prison when more than $5,000 is involved, and a minimum of 2 years when the total is more than $1 million.
• Identity theft (s. 402.2): up to 5 years. Identity fraud, using someone else’s identity to gain an advantage (s. 403): up to 10 years.
• Extortion (s. 346): up to life in prison.
• Sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent (s. 162.1), including images made with AI: up to 10 years.
• Laundering the proceeds of crime (s. 462.31): up to 10 years. Receiving money from a stranger and sending it on, even as a "job", can make you part of the crime.

Can you get your money back?

Sometimes. Card payments can often be disputed with your bank, especially if you call quickly. Money sent by cash, gift card, crypto or wire transfer is much harder to recover, so report the same day.

If someone is convicted, the court can order restitution, which means paying back what you lost. You can also sue in civil court, and in some cases your bank’s own obligations to you may be part of the question. A lawyer can tell you which options are realistic for the amount you lost.