Masters in the art of manipulation, scammers use social networks and online dating sites to trick their victims into fake relationships to get money from them under a variety of pretexts. They usually live in another country or province and let the long-distance relationship build over a period of several months. The victims, both men and women, are convinced they are in a real relationship. Before they have a chance to meet, an unexpected event occurs, such as an accident, illness of a family member, lack of funds to travel to meet in person, or trouble with the law, generating a request for money. More and more requests for money follow.

Victims often lose their life savings and have to live with the grief and embarrassment that the relationship they believed in was a scam.

In 2017, dating and romance scams cost Canadians $22.5 million.

To learn more, read the article Dating scams: when love comes at a price.

In this type of scam, the fraudster on the phone may claim to be an employee of your financial institution, the government, local police or a non-profit organization, or even pretend to be a close relative. Their goal is to get people to give up confidential information or transfer money.

How to spot this scam

The fraudster:

• Claims to be a third party and demands a certain amount of money or asks you questions to get personal information
• Says this is urgent
• Says this must remain confidential
• Tells you there will be consequences if you don't act immediately

Tips

• When the person claims to be a close relative, ask a few personal questions that only your close relatives would know the answer to: a relative's name, where they were born, a family memory, etc.
• If the person tells you they work for a financial institution or company, take down their name and call them back using the institution or company's official phone number (not the number that they gave you).
• Never share confidential information with someone who called you.
• Verify the information even if the person asked you to keep your conversation confidential.
• Never transfer money immediately after getting a request to do so by phone.
• Don't rely on the phone number displayed. Scam artists can make their numbers appear legitimate.
• Feel free to hang up at any time if something doesn't seem right.
• To get psychological support, contact your CLSC (in French only) - External link. or the Crime Victims Assistance Centre (CAVAC) - External link..

Can't shake a nagging doubt?

Contact:

• AccèsD
  • Toll-free: 1-800-CAISSES (1-800-224-7737)
• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
  • Toll-free: 1-888-495-8501
  • Toll-free fax: 1-888-654-9426
  • Website of Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre - External link.
• Aide Abus Aînés (Elder Mistreatment Helpline)
  • Toll-free: 1-888-489-2287
  • Report financial abuse
• Police
  • Toll-free: 911
• Your local police station.

Investment fraud is a strategy used by criminals to convince you to invest your money in no-risk get-rich-quick schemes.

Learn more

Be wary of sites with job application forms that require personal information (name, social insurance number, date of birth, address, phone number, etc.). Fraud artists post tempting job offers using the names of prestigious companies.

Classified ads also sometimes disguise pyramid schemes as legitimate job offers. Be careful! Pyramid schemes are illegal under The Competition Act and you could be prosecuted.

Some companies say they will give you credit even if you have a bad credit rating. They usually request an up-front fee, which may range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Once you send your money to these companies, you never get your promised loan and you cannot get your money back.

In most provinces and territories, it is illegal for a company to request an up-front fee prior to obtaining a loan.

A scam known as a Nigerian Letter Scam also claims many victims. It begins when a victim receives an urgent and confidential email from a well-connected Nigerian making a business proposal. The fraudster may claim to have recently come into some wealth or inherited a family fortune and is looking for a foreign partner to help claim these assets.

They explain that their position prohibits them from opening a foreign bank account and asks the victim to deposit the money (often between $25 and $50 million) into their account in exchange for a certain percentage. To complete the transfer, the scammer requests personal financial information (name of financial institution, telephone and fax number, account number, etc.)

The outcome is simple: as a test, the scammer transfers several thousand dollars into the victim's account and asks them to return a portion to the scammer's home account. A few weeks later, the victim learns that the transfer has bounced and that the money they transferred into the scammer's account cannot be recovered from the overseas bank.