Fraud in Alberta
Reports to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre from Alberta, Jan 2021 to Sep 2025. That is 11% of all Canadian reports.
Reports28,043
Victims18,579
Money lost$273.3M
Began with a call7,473
Phone calls led to 3,550 victims and $33.6M in losses; text messages to 945 victims and $15.1M. Losses are as reported, not verified.
Area codes in Alberta
Check a number from Alberta: reverse phone lookup →
How scammers made contact in Alberta
| Method | Reports | Share | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct call | 7,473 | 37% | 3,550 | $33.6M |
| Internet-social network | 3,419 | 17% | 2,767 | $80.6M |
| Internet | 3,072 | 15% | 2,556 | $73.8M |
| 2,939 | 15% | 1,278 | $33.8M | |
| Text message | 2,613 | 13% | 945 | $15.1M |
| Door to door/in person | 291 | 1% | 257 | $3.6M |
| 217 | 1% | 75 | $24,346 | |
| Fax | 11 | 0% | 0 | $0 |
| Television | 10 | 0% | 6 | $303,944 |
| Video Call | 7 | 0% | 5 | $81,644 |
| 6 | 0% | 2 | $175,850 |
Share of the 20,058 reports that recorded a contact method.
Phone call scams in Alberta
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service | 1,792 | 1,375 | $2.1M |
| Bank Investigator | 1,302 | 577 | $7.7M |
| Extortion | 1,219 | 360 | $1.6M |
| Personal Info | 792 | 356 | $0 |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 694 | 255 | $3.4M |
| Prize | 473 | 94 | $1.6M |
Text message scams in Alberta
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phishing | 1,785 | 468 | $0 |
| Vendor Fraud | 196 | 103 | $55,998 |
| Job | 169 | 132 | $3.3M |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 62 | 28 | $107,491 |
| Extortion | 60 | 13 | $90,504 |
| Investments | 53 | 50 | $4.2M |
Most reported scam types in Alberta
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity Fraud | 5,687 | 5,627 | $0 |
| Service | 2,859 | 2,231 | $7.3M |
| Phishing | 2,537 | 732 | $0 |
| Personal Info | 2,220 | 1,657 | $0 |
| Extortion | 2,138 | 610 | $8.9M |
| Investments | 1,904 | 1,812 | $148.0M |
| Merchandise | 1,525 | 1,271 | $4.3M |
| Bank Investigator | 1,407 | 643 | $9.7M |
| Job | 1,213 | 842 | $13.3M |
| Vendor Fraud | 1,071 | 632 | $2.2M |
By year
| Year | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7,832 | 5,040 | $30.2M |
| 2022 | 7,381 | 4,605 | $52.2M |
| 2023 | 5,712 | 3,833 | $63.7M |
| 2024 | 4,291 | 3,077 | $55.9M |
| 2025 (to Sep 2025) | 2,827 | 2,024 | $71.4M |
Other provinces and territories
About this data
Source: Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Fraud Reporting System dataset, Open Government Licence - Canada, reports from 2021-01-01 to 2025-09-30. Counts are reports filed from Alberta; a report can be an attempt with no victim. The dataset has no phone numbers or names. Many victims never report fraud, so actual numbers are higher.