Many Canadians are still being tricked into giving away goods, services and money through fraudulent activities abroad. The information you find here will help you recognize fraud abroad and protect yourself and your loved ones.
We have been informed that some Canadians may have received misleading or false messages that appear to come from Global Affairs Canada.
Emails: Please verify the sender of any suspicious emails. Our messages to Canadians abroad are sent from [email protected] or another Government of Canada email account that ends with @international.gc.ca.
Calls: If you receive a suspicious call, do not disclose any financial information. Contact the nearest Canadian embassy or consulate to verify the legitimacy of the call.
On this page
Business or professional scams
Personal Scams
Warning: scams are becoming more numerous and sophisticated
Protect yourself
Travel related to personal relationships formed online
Canada Anti-Fraud Centre
If you need help
Business or professional scams
A request from a foreign company requiring you to pay them duties or send them goods in order to obtain a contract with their government.
An offer to sell you goods, such as crude oil or precious stones, and to do business with you if you travel to the person’s country.
An invitation to make a charitable donation to an organization that asks you for information about the bank account you will use.
A loan offer from a fictitious bank located abroad that asks for your personal information in order to open an account.
A customer tries to pay through a seemingly unrelated company in a third country.
A customer requests a refund to be sent to a seemingly unrelated company in a third country.
An unsolicited email from a foreign company looking for representatives based in Canada to establish a commercial presence there and, more importantly, to transfer payments from Canadian or American customers.
Criminals obtain information about your company’s payment systems and then trick your employees into transferring money into their bank accounts.
Personal Scams
An online marriage scheme that results in you being extorted by your in-laws living abroad or being forced to sponsor a spouse who will abandon you after arriving in Canada.
A fictitious foreign organization promises you an inheritance, prize, or amount of money and demands payment of shipping fees or taxes.
A financial reward is offered to you in exchange for a money transfer to be made through your personal bank account.
A scammer poses as a doctor or health care professional to friends or relatives of a Canadian traveller abroad, informing them that the traveller is in hospital and that funds are required for medical treatment.
A scammer pretends to be a Canadian traveller and contacts friends or family to tell them that they are stuck in a foreign country after being robbed, injured or kidnapped and need money to pay for hotel or hospital expenses, a visa or a plane ticket.
A person begins an online friendship or romance with you, then claims to want to come to Canada and asks for money or help obtaining an entry visa.
A person poses as the mother of a child or a lawyer tasked with finding an adoptive family for a child in desperate circumstances and posts an ad for a private adoption, often accompanied by photos of a fictitious child.
A fictitious organization informs a former fraud victim that it has caught the scammer and promises compensation for losses suffered the first time.
An imaginary foreign funeral home sends a death notice, often using false identification, to the relatives of a Canadian traveller asking them to send money to repatriate the remains to Canada.
Fake vacation rental agencies use fake addresses and photoshopped photos of the rental property.
Scams can not only result in significant financial losses, but in many cases pose a serious threat to the personal safety of victims. Many victims are lured into traveling to a foreign country to complete a business transaction, accept a job, get married, or attempt to recover money sent to fraudsters. These situations can result in violent incidents, including kidnapping and forcible confinement. Canadian consular officials may not be able to assist you.
Warning: scams are becoming more numerous and sophisticated
Every day, an ever-increasing number of Canadians seek consular assistance after being made to fear for their safety by a scam. The number of victims will continue to rise in the future. In many countries, scammers can operate with impunity because local authorities often lack the financial and material resources to combat online criminal activity.
Organized fraud rings are developing increasingly innovative and sophisticated scams to deceive their victims and extort money from them. Scammers expend considerable research efforts to create credible documents, complete profiles of fictitious companies, medical reports or falsified export certificates. Very plausible websites are also created through counterfeiting.
Some scammers pretend to be Canadian embassy staff, such as consular officers and even ambassadors. If someone claiming to work for a Canadian government office abroad suddenly offers you help, verify their identity by contacting the embassy or consulate office where the person claims to be