Scam alerts

What’s happening: Phone scam - Impersonating the CRTC: Canadians are receiving phone calls with a spoofed caller ID for the CRTC consumer support line 1-877-249-2782. Our Client Services team will only contact you if you have been in touch with them first. In most cases, they will provide a reference number. If you receive a call from this number but have not made an inquiry or the caller cannot provide your reference number, this is a scam.

Caller ID spoofing is when someone fraudulently alters their caller ID to appear as someone else on the receiver's phone.

What you can do: Canadians are receiving phone calls from toll free numbers impersonating the CRTC and threatening to cut off their phone service. We encourage anyone who receives any suspicious phone calls claiming to be from the CRTC to submit reports about such calls to local law enforcement or  to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

What’s happening: Scammers may insist that this personal information is needed to receive a refund or benefit payment.

Caller ID spoofing is when someone fraudulently alters their caller ID to appear as someone else on the receiver's phone.

What you can do: You should never respond to these fraudulent communications or click on any of the links provided. Protect yourself by knowing that the Government of Canada will never:

• contact you via unsolicited text message to obtain personal information
• request prepaid credit cards
• ask for information about your passport, health card or driver's licence in unsolicited emails, texts or phone calls
• share your taxpayer information, unless you have provided the appropriate authorization
• threaten or try to intimidate you

If you have received a call, email or text message and are not sure about the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number. Given the fraudulent nature of the call, you should hang up and contact local law enforcement or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501, a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

For any unwanted telemarketing calls, we encourage Canadians to file a complaint with the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) or call 1-866-580-DNCL (3625).

If you have received an unsolicited commercial electronic message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) helps protect Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace.

Be aware that these emails and calls are fraudulent and could result in identity and financial theft.

What's happening: Some individuals are sending emails and calling Canadians claiming to represent the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and that they owe a fictitious debt to the agency. An immediate payment is demanded, either by credit card or by convincing the victim to purchase a prepaid credit card and contacting them with the information. The language used in the emails and calls often threaten the victim with court charges, jail time and/or deportation.

What you can do: To help you identify possible scams, please note that the CRA:

• never requests prepaid credit cards;
• never asks for information about your passport, health card, or driver's licence;
• never shares your taxpayer information with another person, unless you have provided the appropriate authorization; and
• never leaves personal information on your answering machine or asks you to leave a message containing your personal information on an answering machine.

If you have received a call, email or text message and are not sure about the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number. Given the fraudulent nature of the call, you should hang up and contact local law enforcement or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501, a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

If you want to confirm the authenticity of the call, you can contact the CRA at 1-800-959-5525 for business-related accounts or 1-800-959-8281 for individual accounts.

Consult CRA scam alerts for more information about scams and fraudulent communications impersonating the CRA.

For any unwanted telemarketing calls, we encourage Canadians to file a complaint with the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) or call 1-866-580-DNCL (3625).

If you have received an unsolicited commercial electronic message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) helps protect Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace.

What’s happening: Google listing scams are a telemarketing scam from either a live agent or a robocall with a pre-recorded message, falsely identifying themselves as a Google representative, and informing Canadians that their Google business listing is about to expire, has incorrect / outdated information, or is poorly ranked in Google rankings. The caller (either an agent or the pre-recorded message) then requests money in order to resolve the issue. Google business listings are free and do not expire. Although Google does occasionally initiate calls to businesses, it does not make unsolicited sales calls from an automated system.

For more information visit: Protecting against fraudulent calls

What you can do: We encourage you to file a complaint with the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) or call 1-866-580-DNCL (3625). You can help us investigate these calls by providing as much information as possible, such as:

• The telephone number at which you received the call;
• The purpose of the call;
• The telephone number and name of the telemarketer that appeared on the call display or that the person gave you over the phone;
• The exact time and date of the call as it appeared on the call display;
• The callback number that may have been provided to you by the caller;
• Whether the complaint relates to a fax, residential or business number; and
• Any other information that you have about the call.

If you have received a call, email or text message and are not sure about the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number. Given the fraudulent nature of the call, you should hang up and contact local law enforcement or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501, a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

For any unwanted telemarketing calls, we encourage Canadians to file a complaint with the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) or call 1-866-580-DNCL (3625).

If you have received an unsolicited commercial electronic message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) helps protect Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace.

What’s happening: The Psychic Consultation scam begins with a live call offering a free psychic consultation, which then requires you to call-back a 1-900 telephone number to receive the free offering. Upon calling the 1-900 number, Canadian consumers are the charged on their telephone bills in accordance with standard 1-900 telephone number billing practices. The callers also display a false callback number (a practice known as caller identification spoofing).

What you can do: If you have received a call, email or text message and are not sure about the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number. Given the fraudulent nature of the call, you should hang up and contact local law enforcement or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501, a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

For any unwanted telemarketing calls, we encourage Canadians to file a complaint with the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) or call 1-866-580-DNCL (3625).

If you have received an unsolicited commercial electronic message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) helps protect Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace.

What’s happening: There are different varieties of job scams—most are advance-fee scams that require the victim to pay money up front to purchase equipment from a fake website with the promise of being reimbursed later. In other cases, victims are tricked into handling or forwarding packages on behalf of scammers, unknowingly helping to move stolen goods.

If you receive this type of message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre, then delete the message.

What you can do: You can help us investigate these spam texts by providing as much information as possible, such as:

• The telephone number at which you received the SMS;
• The telephone number and name of the sender that appeared on the text notification;
• The exact time and date of the message;
• Any other information that you have about the spam message.

If you have received a call, email or text message and are not sure about the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number. Given the fraudulent nature of the call, you should hang up and contact local law enforcement or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501, a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

If you have received an unsolicited commercial electronic message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre. Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) helps protect Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace.

What’s happening: Callback phishing is a scam tactic where scammers impersonate reputable companies by sending fraudulent emails, texts, or phone calls that claim a charge has been made to your account. These messages typically include a phone number to call if you wish to dispute the charge. When you call back, the scammer pretends to be a support agent and attempts to convince you to install remote access software or disclose sensitive information. This often leads to the scammer gaining control of your device, enabling data theft, financial fraud, or further system compromise.

If you receive this type of text message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre, then delete the message.

What you can do: You can help us investigate these spam texts by providing as much information as possible, such as:

• The telephone number at which you received the SMS;
• The telephone number and name of the sender that appeared on the text notification;
• The exact time and date of the message;

What’s happening: Scammers pose as legitimate TSPs and use themes such as phone or internet shut-off threats, equipment upgrades, and unrealistic deals on wireless plans or devices. The calls may feature abusive or threatening language from the scammer to pressure victims into compliance. The end goal can range from phishing for personal information, to the scammer persuading the victim buying a new phone. The scammer then collects personal details like passwords and security codes to access the victim’s account, orders a phone to the victim’s address, then tricks the victim into shipping it on to the scammer, leaving the victim with a real bill from their TSP but no new device.

What you can do: If you have received a call, email or text message and are not sure about the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number. Given the fraudulent nature of the call, you should hang up and contact local law enforcement or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501, a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

For any unwanted telemarketing calls, we encourage Canadians to file a complaint with the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) or call 1-866-580-DNCL (3625).

What’s happening: Investment scams involve fraudulent offers of high return, low risk financial opportunities, often centered around cryptocurrency, the foreign exchange market, or fake investment platforms, promoted through online ads that sometimes feature AI generated endorsements from celebrities or politicians.

Once a consumer enters their personal information into the fraudulent site or application, they are inundated with aggressive follow up calls in an attempt to extort more money. Investment scams can also be initiated via other means including text and social media messages.

What you can do: You can help us investigate these spam texts by providing as much information as possible, such as:

• The telephone number at which you received the SMS;
• The telephone number and name of the sender that appeared on the text notification;
• The exact time and date of the message;
• Any other information that you have about the spam message.

If you received a call and are not sure of the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number.If you receive a call that you think may be fraudulent, contact your local police or the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501), a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

If you receive this type of text message, you can report it to the Spam Reporting Centre, then delete the message.

What’s happening: The Grandparent scam involves receiving a call, email or text message impersonating a family member.  Most commonly the impersonation targets seniors by pretending to be a grandchild that has been in an accident or has been arrested and needs money to resolve these issues.

What you can do: If you received a call and are not sure of the caller's true identity, you should not provide any personal information, including your telephone number. If you receive a call that you think may be fraudulent, contact local law enforcement or the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501), a national service jointly operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau.

Consider calling the person who initially called you, using a verified number or contact a trusted family member to ensure that individual is okay.