The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued a joint Fraud Prevention Month alert urging Canadians to report suspected investment scams and to exercise greater caution when considering online investment opportunities, citing increasing prevalence and sophistication of fraud on digital and social platforms. The authorities highlighted a CSA-tracked upward trend in investment fraud among younger Canadians for the first time, alongside broader indicators of exposure and attempted victimization. Data cited included CAFC-reported investment fraud losses exceeding CAD 310 million in 2024 across more than 4,000 cases, with the CAFC estimating 90 to 95 per cent of fraud goes unreported. The release also pointed to spear phishing and romance scams as top-ten reported fraud types in 2024 that are frequently used in online investment fraud, and to CSA Investor Index findings that 46 per cent of Canadians have encountered investment opportunities promoted on social media and 23 per cent say they have been approached with a possibly fraudulent investment. Canadians who are victims of, or suspect, investment fraud were directed to report immediately to their local securities regulator or to their police service.

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