I think I have been scammed

Who to call

Things only your province or territory handles: credit freezes, checking an investment firm, abuse lines, and help for an adult who can no longer make decisions

Money has left your account

Make these calls in this order, starting today.

01

Call the bank or credit union the money left from

The bank’s number is on your card or a statement. No card? Type your bank’s web address in yourself. Do not follow a link in a message.

When. Today. Before you call, cancel any e‑Transfer that has not been deposited yet. You can do it yourself, from the transaction history in your online banking.

  • Money taken by credit card: report it at once.
  • Money from a chequing or savings account: tell the bank within 30 days of the statement date, usually. Your bank’s deadline can be shorter.

What it does. Can freeze the account, stop a payment that has not finished going through, and start a dispute of each payment you did not make.

Have ready: the account number, and the date and amount of each payment
  • The account number
  • The date and amount of each transaction
  • The police file number, if you already have one

Ask them to note the call and give you a reference for it.

02

Call your local police and ask for a file number

Your municipal, regional or First Nations police service. Without one: the Ontario Provincial Police in Ontario, the Sûreté du Québec in Quebec, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary around St. John’s, Corner Brook and Labrador West, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police elsewhere. Dial 911 only if there is danger right now.

When. As soon as possible, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says.

What it does. Takes your report and gives you a file number. Investigating the crime is its job.

Have ready: what happened, in order, and any account or phone numbers
  • What happened, in the order it happened
  • Any account or transaction numbers
  • The number that called, if you have it
03

Report the scam to the Canadian Anti‑Fraud Centre

1-888-495-8501

Monday to Friday, 10am to 4:45pm Eastern. Closed on holidays.

When we would call. The same day.

Report online instead, at Report Cybercrime and Fraud

What it does. Takes reports of fraud and attempted fraud from across Canada. Police forces use what you report to help their investigations.

What it does not do. Investigate your case, or return money. To dispute a payment, go to your bank or credit union.

Have ready: what happened, and the police file number, if you have one
  • What happened
  • The file number from police, if you have one

Someone has your ID or your Social Insurance Number

Call both credit bureaus. Each keeps its own file, so call them separately. Then, if your Social Insurance Number may have been used, call the Canada Revenue Agency too.

Equifax Canada

1-800-465-7166

When we would call. The same day you find out.

What it does. Puts a fraud alert on your Equifax credit file, so a lender should confirm it is you before opening credit in your name.

Have ready: identity documents, to prove who you are.

TransUnion Canada

1-800-663-9980

When we would call. The same day you find out.

What it does. Puts the same fraud alert on your TransUnion credit file. An alert placed at Equifax does not reach this one.

Have ready: identity documents, to prove who you are.

Canada Revenue Agency

1-800-959-8281

Or 1-833-995-2336 for a tax account someone else is using. The agency can protect the account during that call.

What it does. If someone may be using your Social Insurance Number to work, ask the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) which employers have issued T4 slips under your number. Its web page, Verify it’s the CRA calling, says whether a caller’s number really belongs to the CRA.

Have ready: your Social Insurance Number and a notice of assessment
  • Your Social Insurance Number, full name, date of birth and address
  • A notice of assessment, or a tax return the CRA has already assessed

A real CRA agent will not rush you to pay, or ask for payment by Interac e‑Transfer, cryptocurrency, prepaid credit card or gift card.

Your province or territory may also let you freeze your credit file.

Your bank won’t pay you back, or hasn’t answered

First, complain to your bank. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada can explain how. If you disagree with the bank’s final answer, or it has not given one within 56 calendar days, call the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments.

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

1-866-461-3222

What it does. Explains your bank’s complaint process and guides you through the steps. It also checks that banks handle complaints the way they must.

What it does not do. Settle your complaint. Your bank does that first. Then the Ombudsman can review it.

What to have ready
  • Where you are in the bank’s complaint process

Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments

1-888-451-4519

When. Once the bank has given its final answer, or 56 calendar days after you complained if it has not. After the bank’s final answer, you have 180 calendar days to bring your complaint to the Ombudsman.

What it does. Reviews your complaint for free, and gives its conclusions in writing within 120 calendar days of having all the information it asked for.

What to have ready
  • The bank’s written response, or proof of when you complained

Someone tried to scam you, and you didn’t lose anything

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

1-888-495-8501

Report it even though you lost nothing. It still helps police.

Competition Bureau of Canada

1-800-348-5358

What it does. Takes reports of misleading advertising, such as false claims and fake prize notices. Send it any letter or email saying you have won money or a prize.

What to have ready

Competition Bureau website

  • The letter, email or advertisement itself

You want fewer sales calls and less junk mail

None of these has a deadline.

National Do Not Call List

1-866-580-3625

What it does. Registers a landline, mobile, fax or internet phone number. Telemarketers must stop calling it. Registration is free and does not expire.

What it does not do. Stop calls from scammers. Registered charities, political parties and candidates, newspapers selling subscriptions and survey firms can still call. So can anyone you agreed could call, and a business you bought from in the last 18 months or asked something in the last 6 months.

What to have ready, and what to expect

National Do Not Call List website

What to have ready before the call

  • The number you want registered

Your registration takes effect 31 days after you register, so calls in the first month do not mean it failed.

Canada Post, Consumers’ Choice

1-866-607-6301

Or 1-800-267-1177 for starting flyer delivery again.

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Eastern

What it does. Stops unaddressed advertising mail: flyers, restaurant menus, free samples and coupons, catalogues, notices from non-profit organizations, and offers from banks and phone companies. Start by putting a note on your mailbox saying you want none of it. Call only if flyers still come after a few weeks.

What it does not do. Stop addressed mail, community newspapers without commercial inserts, government mailings, or election material. On our reading, it does not cover flyers that someone other than Canada Post delivers.

What to have ready

Canada Post’s Consumers’ Choice page

  • Your address

Your province or territory

These depend on where you live:

  • Whether a credit freeze exists at all.
  • Who regulates investment firms and advisers. To look up a firm or an adviser yourself: Check an investment is registered.
  • Which line to call when an adult is being abused or exploited.
  • Who protects an adult once they can no longer make their own decisions.
a credit freeze a block that stops a credit bureau sharing your file with a new lender

Ontario and Quebec law let you ask Equifax and TransUnion not to give your file to a lender who would open new credit. Neither bureau charges for it, and each has to be asked separately. Equifax calls it Credit Lock. Everywhere else, the option is a fraud alert instead.

a fraud alert a note on the credit file asking a lender to check who they are talking to

It asks; it does not stop anything on its own. A lender is meant to make contact and confirm identity before approving credit in your name. Each bureau keeps its own file, so one placed at one does nothing at the other. A bureau may charge for placing one.