Fraud in Ontario
Reports to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre from Ontario, Jan 2021 to Sep 2025. That is 38% of all Canadian reports.
Reports102,210
Victims69,117
Money lost$1.01B
Began with a call25,361
Phone calls led to 11,057 victims and $121.3M in losses; text messages to 2,823 victims and $45.0M. Losses are as reported, not verified.
Area codes in Ontario
226 · 778 prefixes416 · 778 prefixes519 · 778 prefixes647 · 778 prefixes289 · 772 prefixes905 · 772 prefixes613 · 770 prefixes705 · 769 prefixes365 · 706 prefixes343 · 641 prefixes249 · 587 prefixes437 · 553 prefixes548 · 515 prefixes807 · 296 prefixes742 · 149 prefixes753 · 110 prefixes683 · 81 prefixes382 · 67 prefixes942 · 57 prefixes
Check a number from Ontario: reverse phone lookup →
How scammers made contact in Ontario
| Method | Reports | Share | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct call | 25,361 | 37% | 11,057 | $121.3M |
| Internet-social network | 11,479 | 17% | 9,681 | $273.2M |
| 11,289 | 16% | 4,723 | $156.3M | |
| Internet | 10,758 | 16% | 9,213 | $249.8M |
| Text message | 7,544 | 11% | 2,823 | $45.0M |
| Door to door/in person | 1,509 | 2% | 1,277 | $41.1M |
| 1,090 | 2% | 366 | $784,638 | |
| Television | 36 | 0% | 28 | $1.9M |
| 31 | 0% | 26 | $1.7M | |
| Video Call | 26 | 0% | 19 | $839,264 |
| Fax | 23 | 0% | 0 | $0 |
| Radio | 3 | 0% | 2 | $494,835 |
Share of the 69,149 reports that recorded a contact method.
Phone call scams in Ontario
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extortion | 5,827 | 2,067 | $25.6M |
| Service | 4,608 | 2,970 | $8.4M |
| Bank Investigator | 4,021 | 1,760 | $20.5M |
| Personal Info | 3,368 | 1,452 | $0 |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 2,166 | 936 | $9.9M |
| Prize | 875 | 244 | $6.8M |
Text message scams in Ontario
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phishing | 4,900 | 1,183 | $0 |
| Job | 646 | 499 | $12.8M |
| Vendor Fraud | 483 | 274 | $289,938 |
| Emergency (Jail, Accident, Hospital, Help) | 233 | 127 | $403,155 |
| Investments | 198 | 188 | $21.7M |
| Extortion | 182 | 50 | $182,286 |
Most reported scam types in Ontario
| Type | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity Fraud | 24,405 | 24,141 | $0 |
| Extortion | 8,962 | 2,954 | $30.6M |
| Service | 8,909 | 6,488 | $35.7M |
| Personal Info | 8,681 | 6,188 | $0 |
| Phishing | 8,294 | 2,200 | $0 |
| Investments | 6,357 | 5,834 | $520.0M |
| Merchandise | 5,760 | 4,958 | $14.4M |
| Job | 4,640 | 3,400 | $38.9M |
| Bank Investigator | 4,410 | 2,013 | $24.7M |
| Vendor Fraud | 3,034 | 2,105 | $11.5M |
By year
| Year | Reports | Victims | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30,127 | 20,229 | $153.8M |
| 2022 | 26,258 | 16,832 | $218.5M |
| 2023 | 19,985 | 13,514 | $221.7M |
| 2024 | 16,090 | 11,626 | $221.0M |
| 2025 (to Sep 2025) | 9,750 | 6,916 | $193.0M |
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 Ontario; 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.