As technology continues to develop at quickening rates, the tools available to financial fraudsters continue to broaden. But, sometimes, old devices work just as well.
Three ON women — and one unidentified woman —are out nearly $68,000 after falling victim to a classic scam maneuver known as a spoofed phone call. The scammers called each woman and explained they were working with their banks and their funds were in jeopardy due to fraudulent activity on their accounts.
A chilling detail is that each woman’s personal details were used by the scammers to legitimize the ruse, making it even harder to tell truth from fiction.
How the scam unfolded
Petra Shim was one of the four victims who came forward to CTV News after a spoof call resulted in $45,000 being drained out of her account within 10 hours.
“They knew my address, they knew my full name, my date of birth, they knew my email and obviously my phone number,” Shim, a resident of Port Hope, told the news outlet.
To make matters worse, Shim revealed that she would not be reimbursed by her bank because she authorized the transaction.
Kristen Ernest from London, ON, received a fake call from someone allegedly representing the fraud department at her bank. After she was told the money in her account was being used for drug trafficking and money laundering, she complied with the fraudster to “secure” her funds. She lost $13,500.
The third identified woman, Raquel Pineda from Toronto, had a similar interaction, resulting in her losing $9,000.
The fourth woman, who did not identify herself to CTV, claimed she was scammed out of $50,000 and works at a bank herself.
Just how common are spoof calls in Canada?
Fraud is steadily climbing in Canada, with Statistics Canada reporting that fraud of all kinds increased by 12% in 2023 compared to 2022, and has nearly doubled since 2013. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) reported that $648 Million was lost due to fraud in 2024, and there has been $165 Million stolen this year so far as of March 31, 2025.
While it might be a common stereotype that older Canadians are the most targeted by fraud, research from multiple organizations is revealing that may not entirely be the case. An Ipsos Survey on behalf of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada from 2023 found that older Canadians (55+) are, “least likely to report having knowingly been victimized by fraud or scams at some point in their lifetime.” In contrast, nearly two-thirds of Canadians aged 18-34 have admitted they have knowingly been the victim of fraud.
Fraud affects Canadians of nearly all ages — what can be done to avoid these financial traps?
How to avoid becoming a victim
With so many people falling victim to phone scams each year, you may start wondering when you will be the next successful victim of a fraudster. Thankfully, the CAFC has specific advice on how to deal with fake “bank investigators” — Here’s some of their top tips:
- Don’t make assumptions: A fraudster can use your financial institution’s phone number to call you — don’t assume your caller ID is correct.
- Double-check with your bank: If you receive a call from someone alleging they work for your bank, call the number on the back of your debit card from a separate phone. If that’s not possible, tell the person on the other line you’ll call them back instead. Always verify bank representatives’ IDs.
- Know your bank’s behavior: A bank or other financial institution will never ask you to transfer funds to an external account for security reasons. If you are asked to do so, hang up the phone.
What if you’ve been scammed?
Regardless of how vigilant you are, sometimes a scammer knows exactly what to say to get the right information out of you. If you’ve been victim of a phone scam, you need to do these three things immediately:
- Keep documentation: Maintain copies of all phone records, transcripts (if available), text messages, emails, social messages, bank transfer receipts etc. so you have proof of the crime to give to authorities.
- Report it: As soon as you’ve realized what has happened, report the incident to your local police and the CAFC. You can either call the CAFC at 1-888-495-8501 or report it online.
- Tell your bank: Let your bank know immediately, and any other connected financial institutions (e.g. credit card companies) so they can flag your account. Letting either TransUnion or Equifax — Canada’s two credit bureaus —know that you were scammed is also important.
As fraud calls continues to rise Canadians need to stay vigilant
Fraud calls in Canada will continue to become more sophisticated and harder to tell from real interactions as AI technology improves. Now, more than ever, Canadians need to be vigilant against scammers and arm themselves with knowledge to spot bad actors immediately. If we don’t, we’ll pay for it.
Sources
1. CTV News: Ontario women speak out about bank phone call scam that cost them more than $60K, by Pat Foran (Jun 11, 2025)</p
2. Statistics Canada: Police-reported crime statistics in Canada, 2023 (Jul 25, 2024)</p
3. Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Recent scams and fraud</p
4. Ipsos: Fraud is too Common in Canada: Nearly Half (43%) of Canadians Have Knowingly Been Victimized by Fraud or Scams, in their Lifetime (Feb 17, 2023)</p
5. Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: Bank investigator</p
6. Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: What to do if you’re a victim of fraud</p
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
