Fraud in British Columbia
Reports to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre from British Columbia, Jan 2021 to Sep 2025. That is 13% of all Canadian reports.
Reports33,958
Victims23,243
Money lost$355.3M
Began with a call8,613
Phone calls led to 4,253 victims and $48.3M in losses; text messages to 1,146 victims and $15.3M. Losses are as reported, not verified.
Area codes in British Columbia
250 · 780 prefixes604 · 779 prefixes778 · 779 prefixes236 · 746 prefixes672 · 324 prefixes257 · 20 prefixes
Check a number from British Columbia: reverse phone lookup →
How scammers made contact in British Columbia
| Method | Reports | Share | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct call | 8,613 | 36% | 4,253 | $48.3M |
| Internet-social network | 4,184 | 18% | 3,523 | $135.5M |
| 3,820 | 16% | 1,687 | $33.1M | |
| Internet | 3,739 | 16% | 3,187 | $96.2M |
| Text message | 2,846 | 12% | 1,146 | $15.3M |
| Door to door/in person | 340 | 1% | 289 | $5.4M |
| 307 | 1% | 93 | $19,921 | |
| Fax | 19 | 0% | 6 | $0 |
| Video Call | 12 | 0% | 9 | $572,561 |
| Television | 8 | 0% | 7 | $35,052 |
| 5 | 0% | 4 | $74,725 |
Share of the 23,893 reports that recorded a contact method.
Phone call scams in British Columbia
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service | 2,164 | 1,694 | $4.6M |
| Extortion | 1,704 | 620 | $10.5M |
| Bank Investigator | 1,549 | 722 | $8.7M |
| Personal Info | 983 | 467 | $0 |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 384 | 90 | $800,322 |
| Prize | 351 | 89 | $1.7M |
Text message scams in British Columbia
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phishing | 1,979 | 596 | $0 |
| Job | 216 | 165 | $4.6M |
| Vendor Fraud | 91 | 44 | $48,177 |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 86 | 45 | $115,964 |
| Investments | 78 | 76 | $7.5M |
| Extortion | 65 | 14 | $1.6M |
Most reported scam types in British Columbia
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity Fraud | 7,495 | 7,417 | $0 |
| Service | 3,522 | 2,819 | $10.0M |
| Phishing | 3,047 | 971 | $0 |
| Extortion | 2,804 | 934 | $13.6M |
| Personal Info | 2,574 | 1,901 | $0 |
| Investments | 2,302 | 2,167 | $205.6M |
| Merchandise | 2,185 | 1,783 | $3.8M |
| Bank Investigator | 1,681 | 805 | $9.1M |
| Job | 1,294 | 960 | $17.9M |
| Vendor Fraud | 927 | 611 | $1.9M |
By year
| Year | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9,291 | 6,198 | $44.3M |
| 2022 | 8,814 | 5,791 | $75.7M |
| 2023 | 6,919 | 4,777 | $83.4M |
| 2024 | 5,318 | 3,875 | $80.2M |
| 2025 (to Sep 2025) | 3,616 | 2,602 | $71.8M |
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 British Columbia; 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.