Canada fraud statistics
Reports to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Jan 2021 to Sep 2025. How scammers made contact, what they pretended to be and how much people lost.
Canadian reports only. A report can be an attempt with no victim; losses are what people reported, not verified amounts.
How scammers made contact
| Method | Reports | Share | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct call | 62,922 | 37% | 26,613 | $260.8M |
| Internet-social network | 29,026 | 17% | 23,771 | $616.3M |
| 28,717 | 17% | 11,255 | $287.7M | |
| Internet | 25,473 | 15% | 21,635 | $530.7M |
| Text message | 18,587 | 11% | 6,934 | $89.1M |
| Door to door/in person | 3,473 | 2% | 3,012 | $57.0M |
| 2,553 | 1% | 810 | $1.1M | |
| Fax | 72 | 0% | 8 | $0 |
| Television | 71 | 0% | 53 | $2.4M |
| Video Call | 63 | 0% | 45 | $1.6M |
| 55 | 0% | 42 | $2.3M | |
| Radio | 5 | 0% | 3 | $510,835 |
Share of the 171,017 reports that recorded a contact method.
Phone call scams: most reported types
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extortion | 13,333 | 4,168 | $49.9M |
| Service | 11,759 | 8,072 | $19.5M |
| Bank Investigator | 11,375 | 4,617 | $48.0M |
| Personal Info | 7,689 | 3,223 | $0 |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 4,599 | 1,773 | $19.5M |
| Prize | 2,491 | 621 | $12.7M |
62,922 reports began with a direct call: 26,613 victims, $260.8M lost. Look up a number that called you →
Text message scams: most reported types
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phishing | 12,591 | 3,292 | $0 |
| Job | 1,318 | 1,025 | $26.3M |
| Vendor Fraud | 1,109 | 609 | $547,429 |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 478 | 246 | $761,234 |
| Extortion | 423 | 117 | $2.0M |
| Investments | 416 | 395 | $39.0M |
18,587 reports began with a text message: 6,934 victims, $89.1M lost. Check a link from a text →
By province and territory
| Province | Reports | Victims | Lost | By phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 102,210 | 69,117 | $1.01B | 25,361 |
| Quebec | 71,813 | 51,515 | $240.3M | 12,161 |
| British Columbia | 33,958 | 23,243 | $355.3M | 8,613 |
| Alberta | 28,043 | 18,579 | $273.3M | 7,473 |
| Manitoba | 9,536 | 6,431 | $81.4M | 2,800 |
| Saskatchewan | 6,219 | 4,286 | $51.3M | 1,560 |
| Nova Scotia | 5,684 | 3,436 | $26.4M | 1,936 |
| New Brunswick | 4,668 | 2,909 | $21.0M | 1,602 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 2,032 | 1,353 | $10.8M | 729 |
| Prince Edward Island | 904 | 586 | $4.7M | 299 |
| Yukon | 320 | 200 | $1.8M | 80 |
| Northwest Territories | 206 | 124 | $1.5M | 57 |
| Nunavut | 100 | 70 | $3.5M | 16 |
Reports without a province are counted in the national totals only.
By year
| Year | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 76,746 | 52,013 | $284.7M |
| 2022 | 70,843 | 46,687 | $422.6M |
| 2023 | 51,694 | 35,059 | $461.5M |
| 2024 | 41,167 | 29,719 | $495.3M |
| 2025 (to Sep 2025) | 26,103 | 18,853 | $419.0M |
Most reported scam types overall
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity Fraud | 71,470 | 70,843 | $0 |
| Personal Info | 24,926 | 19,083 | $0 |
| Extortion | 22,801 | 6,493 | $67.5M |
| Service | 21,081 | 15,632 | $69.1M |
| Phishing | 20,786 | 5,917 | $0 |
| Investments | 14,975 | 13,807 | $1.07B |
| Merchandise | 13,982 | 11,726 | $35.0M |
| Bank Investigator | 12,276 | 5,178 | $55.6M |
| Job | 9,554 | 6,988 | $91.4M |
| Vendor Fraud | 7,992 | 5,118 | $22.4M |
About this data
Source: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Fraud Reporting System dataset on the Government of Canada open data portal, Open Government Licence - Canada. 350,361 reports from 2021-01-01 to 2025-09-30, extracted 2025-10-01; 266,553 were filed from Canada and are counted here. The dataset has no phone numbers or names. Many victims never report fraud, so actual numbers are higher.