How to spot a scam and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Scams reach Canadians by phone, text, email, social media and online marketplaces, and businesses get hit with fake invoices and supplier impersonation. This guide explains how to spot the common warning signs, what to do in the first hour if you or your business has been targeted, and how to report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and police.

Reporting matters even if you did not lose money. The RCMP estimated in November 2025 that only 5 to 10 per cent of fraud and cybercrime incidents in Canada are reported. Reports go into a national database that the RCMP's National Cybercrime Coordination Centre (NC3) and the CAFC use to link cases, warn the public and support investigations.

Step 1: Learn the warning signs

The CAFC lists these red flags:

• An offer that seems too good to be true, such as a prize, a high-return investment or a cheap rental.
• Urgency and emotional pressure: a family member "in trouble", a threat of arrest, a deadline of minutes.
• An unsolicited request for personal or financial information, such as your social insurance number (SIN) or banking details.
• A demand for payment before you receive a prize, product or service. The CAFC notes that Canada has no prize fees or taxes, and legitimate lenders do not ask for upfront fees.
• Pop-up warnings that say your computer is infected and give a number to call.
• Emails with errors, or unexpected links and attachments.

For businesses, the CAFC adds unusually large orders, repeated orders for the same product, orders for big-ticket items and invoices that look real but come from a fraudster using a genuine company's name.

Caller ID, email sender names and web addresses can all be faked. The CAFC also warns that fraudsters impersonate the CAFC itself, often promising to help recover money lost in an earlier scam. The CAFC does not contact people to ask for money.

Step 2: Verify before you act

1. Slow down. Hang up, close the chat or stop replying. A real bank, government agency or police service will not object to you calling back.
2. Look up the contact details yourself. Use the number on the back of your card, a past statement or the organization's official website, not a number or link in the message.
3. Check with someone else. For a "grandchild in trouble" call, contact other relatives. For a change to a supplier's banking details, call the supplier at a number you already have on file.
4. Never give remote access to your computer or phone to someone who contacted you.
5. Do not pay with gift cards, cryptocurrency or wire transfers because someone told you to. These are hard or impossible to reverse.

Step 3: If you have been scammed, act in this order

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. Otherwise, the CAFC recommends these steps:

1. Stay calm and gather evidence. Save documents, receipts, screenshots, emails, text messages, phone numbers, user names, web addresses and transaction details. Do not delete the conversation.
2. Call your financial institution right away. Report the fraud to the bank or card issuer that sent the money. The sooner you call, the better the chance a transfer can be stopped or recovered.
3. If personal information was taken, ask your bank to flag your accounts, change your passwords and turn on multi-factor authentication. The CAFC advises reporting identity fraud to both credit bureaus, Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. Equifax lists 1-800-465-7166 for identity theft and fraud.
4. Report to your local police and get a file number. Police are responsible for investigating, and banks, credit bureaus and insurers may ask for the number.
5. Report to the CAFC (see Step 4).
6. Report the account to the platform where the scam happened, using its "Report abuse" or "Report an ad" link, so it can be taken down.

Step 4: Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Since November 2025, the RCMP and CAFC have run a national online system called Report Cybercrime and Fraud. It is not a replacement for calling local police; the RCMP says to report to both.

1. Go to reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca and choose to report online.
2. Answer the questions about what happened, when, how you were contacted and any money lost.
3. Upload your evidence, such as screenshots, receipts or proof of transactions, and the messages or emails.
4. Add your police file number if you have one.
5. Submit. You can report anonymously, and you can report as a witness if you were targeted but did not lose anything.

You can also call the CAFC toll-free at 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Eastern time (closed on holidays).

Other places to report

• Spam email and messages: Canada's Spam Reporting Centre, under Canada's anti-spam legislation.
• Redirected mail: Canada Post, and the utility and phone companies you deal with.
• Tax or benefit fraud in your name: the Canada Revenue Agency at 1-800-959-8281, and Service Canada at 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232).
• Lost or misused ID: the province or territory that issued it, and Passport Canada for passports.
• A cyber incident affecting your business systems (for example ransomware): the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.

Step 5: Protect yourself from follow-up scams

• The CAFC warns that victims are often targeted a second or third time by "recovery" services promising to get money back for a fee. Never pay to recover money.
• Keep updating the CAFC, police and your bank if you learn more or are contacted again.
• Check your bank statements and credit reports for activity you do not recognize.
• Tell family, friends and co-workers what happened. It can stop the next attempt.

For small businesses: build it into your routine

1. Limit how many people can approve purchases and pay bills, as the CAFC recommends.
2. Require a call-back to a known number before changing any supplier or payroll banking details.
3. Check invoices against purchase orders before paying.
4. Tell staff who to call, internally, the moment they think they have been scammed, and make it safe to report a mistake quickly.

Sources

• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: What to do if you're a victim of fraud
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Protect yourself
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Report fraud
• RCMP: RCMP launches new national cybercrime and fraud reporting system (Nov. 6, 2025)
• RCMP: Report cybercrime and fraud
• Equifax Canada: Contact us