That’s why no one in Canada is immune to scams—they’re becoming harder to detect and harder to avoid. However, you can protect yourself with updated knowledge and some tech tools of your own—including a credit monitoring service that keeps watch on your behalf. Let’s look at the impact of ID theft in Canada and what you can do to safeguard your identity and your finances.
How scams can affect your finances
If your personal information, such as banking details or your social insurance number (SIN), is stolen, there can be short-term and long-term consequences.
For example, fraudsters could try to open a credit card or a line of credit in your name, which can hurt your credit score. A bad score can take a long time to build back up, and that can affect your ability to apply for new credit cards, mortgages and car loans. Depending on what information they’ve stolen, scammers can sometimes take money out of your bank account, make purchases or even apply for government benefits in your name. The stress of trying to fix everything yourself can take a toll, and it can take years to recover from identity fraud.
The latest scams in Canada
Fraudsters are clever, and they’re constantly thinking up new ways to scam Canadians. They also exploit seasonal opportunities, like tax time, to fool people. Some recent scams to watch for:
- Text messages about different benefits administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), like the Working Canadians Rebate or the GST/HST credit, requesting you to reply and follow instructions to deposit the money. The CRA never sends text messages concerning benefits, credits, rebates, tax refunds or payments.
- Phishing emails stating you received a tax document to review, with a link to a webpage that requires filling in personal information. The CRA doesn’t send notification emails with a button or link asking you to provide personal information. It will only ever email you to ask you to log into your CRA My Account to review a document.
- Aggressive phone calls from people claiming to work at the CRA, demanding payment for “taxes owed,” often in the form of bitcoin or gift cards. Hang up!
Many scams follow the same general script, whether by text, email or phone call: They pretend to be from an official institution. They try to pressure you into revealing your personal information, usually by clicking a link and filling out information, or they demand you immediately pay them with an unusual method, like cryptocurrency or gift cards.
Bottom line: If something feels off, in any way, then it probably is. Be skeptical of all communication and don’t engage with suspicious senders. Instead, connect with organizations directly by using their official contact information on their websites.
How to report a scam in Canada
Telltale signs of being a target of fraud can include unauthorized transactions on your credit card and/or in your bank account, statements from accounts you didn’t open, an unexpected credit inquiry or dropping credit score, or the CRA rejecting your tax return, saying that it’s already been filed.