The Fraud Clinic

If you think you or someone you love is being scammed, or already has been, start here

How scams work, and what stops them.

We want to make it harder for scammers to win. This is a Canadian guide to what scams look like, and to what you can do to make them harder to pull off. The phone numbers, deadlines and rules here are Canadian ones.

Real stories About the Fraud Clinic

Where they got your information, and how to stop the calls The stories they use, and the rule you set beforehand Why they pass every check, and the one thing they cannot fake What they ask for, and what to refuse How the money leaves, and the last person who can stop it Why it never stops at one payment, and the rule that ends it What happens after the money is gone, and who calls next Why some money can be pulled back, and some cannot

Someone is asking you for money right now Money has gone Someone got into your computer, accounts or documents Someone is offering to return what you lost Weeks have passed, or the bank has said no

Get fewer scam calls on a mobile phone Get fewer scam calls on a landline Hang up on a call that says it is your bank, and call the number on your card Get fewer sales calls: the Do Not Call List Keep your main email off marketing lists Get less advertising mail Find out what a company knows about you, and ask it to stop using it What is public about you, and what you can remove Use a different password for every account Common questions

Check for yourself whether it’s a scam Choose checks with a clear yes or no answer Check an investment is registered Search the regulators’ warning lists Check that the company exists under the name it is using Call the company back on a number you look up yourself Ask to withdraw your whole balance from the investment Offer your family a rule: never send money during a call Common questions

List what the scammer can still get into Work out how the money actually left Change the email and phone passwords first, then the bank’s Ask both credit bureaus to flag the file, or freeze it Call the bank, the police and the credit bureaus on numbers you looked up Hang up on anyone who offers to return what you lost Common questions

Check what someone could move today with your phone and password Write down where the money is Mark what could leave today Lower the daily limits on their accounts Don’t leave everything behind one login Give the money accounts a password nothing else uses Name a trusted contact person on the investment accounts Ask the branch for a call-back before large counter withdrawals Turn on transaction alerts, and check again once a year If the afternoon turns into an argument, stop for today Common questions

Bring up scams on an ordinary day, not the day something happens Ask for a family rule that includes you Agree the rule: never send money during a call Put the rule and the charities’ numbers on a card by the phone Lower limits, turn on alerts, name a trusted contact person If the talk turns into an argument, stop Check the rule and the card together once a year Common questions