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Fraudulent investment ads featuring deepfakes of celebrities and politicians from Mark Carney to Wayne Gretzky have been inundating social media feeds and duping people with the promise of massive returns. As Canadians spend more of their time and money in the digital sphere, online scams are growing and swindling them out of millions of dollars. There are several steps you can take to protect your digital privacy and increase your awareness of online fraud. Here, Financial Post breaks down the numbers behind investment fraud, who is most vulnerable, red flags to look out for and what you should do once you have identified that your financial safety has been compromised.

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How many Canadians are deceived by investment fraud?

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There were 3,866 investment fraud victims reported in 2024, who collectively suffered a financial loss of $310.6 million, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). These numbers include all types of investment fraud, not just online scams.

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So far in 2025, Maude Blanchette, chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) Investment Fraud Task Force, estimated that there have already been about 3,000 cases reported. The official tally will be released by the CAFC in 2026.

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Blanchette said the number of reported cases has levelled off since 2022, but added that scams tend to be severely underreported to begin with. According to the CAFC, just five to 10 per cent of fraud incidents are reported.

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“It’s very scary because it means that it is only the tip of the iceberg,” Blanchette said.

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Colin White, portfolio manager and chief executive of Verecan Capital Management Inc., said this may be due to the shame or embarrassment of being deceived. This shame could be further exacerbated by many people being uncomfortable with talking about money in the first place.

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“(People) would rather talk about the wound they have on their leg that’s not healing … than talk about money,” he said.

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Who is most likely to be vulnerable to online scams?

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People of all ages may be vulnerable to scams, White said, but different generations might be more exposed to different types of scams.

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For example, White said a younger person might be more interested in a video that claims to teach them about foreign exchange-traded funds and promises double rates of return. Seniors, meanwhile, could be more susceptible to a message saying they owe money to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or that a loved one is in financial trouble.

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People nearing retirement who are worried their savings are not up to par might be swayed by an ad suggesting they could get a higher rate of return on their investments, White added.

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The latest investment index report from the CSA shows reported rates of victimization for Canadians aged 55 or older has trended downwards (since tracking began in 2009), but are up in all other age groups.

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Canadians aged 18 to 24 are the group that has seen the biggest rise in reported fraud, said Blanchette.

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The CSA data revealed 46 per cent of respondents said they have seen investment opportunities advertised on social media. Those under 55 were most likely to report this.

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Meanwhile, the number of investors relying on financial advisers for investing information has plummeted, the CSA said, to 43 per cent in 2024 from 70 per cent in 2016.

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“(There is a) very high sales culture in the financial industry, specifically in Canada,” White said. “(Investors are) more susceptible to listening to an alternative way of investing, because the traditional way has not served them well.”

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What do these scams look like?

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There are varying degrees to the severity of online investment scams, White said. “A scam can be a complete loss of money, or a scam can be a promise that’s completely unrealistic, that’s never going to come to fruition.”

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According to the CSA, email remains the most common approach to investment scams (35 per cent in 2024), but since 2020, there has been a five per cent uptick in fraud on social media (11 per cent in 2024).

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Fraudulent advertisements featuring the supposed endorsement of a celebrity or political figure on a social media platform are quite popular, Blanchette said. With these scams, people often click on the advertisement, enter their contact information and then receive a phone call or message advising them on how to invest their money.

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The CAFC says one of the most common online investment frauds involves perpetrators creating fake news articles on social media to convince victims to invest in cryptocurrency. Another prominent type is romance scams.

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Blanchette has seen such scams start with just a simple “hello” through text, social media and dating platforms, she said. “You start messaging with someone on a dating app and end up on a crypto trading platform.”

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In many cases, Blanchette said the fraudster will try to glean as much personal information as possible, building confidence and trust with victims before encouraging them to invest their money.

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“They adapt, they try to counter the prevention measures we promote,” Blanchette said. “And they are dangerously effective in breaking all the barriers that people will make to try to protect themselves.”

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Victims often start with small amounts of money and steadily invest more after being shown “profits” in their accounts. These fake investment platforms can appear legitimate, even in some cases with a real business registration number taken from an actual business.

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The advent of AI and its technological capabilities is also facilitating the sophistication and believability of online scams, said Robert Falzon, head of engineering, Canada, at U.S. and Israel-based cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

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Falzon said online scams were once more easily identifiable, such as by spelling mistakes, fake logos or questionable products — but no longer, in part thanks to artificial intelligence capabilities. He has seen a proliferation of deepfakes (videos in which a person’s body or face has been digitally altered to replace their likeness, often to spread misinformation), and even phone calls that imitate the voice of a victim’s loved one requesting financial aid.

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What are some red flags to look out for?

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Tarundeep Dhot, vice-president of Canadian fraud management at Toronto-Dominion Bank, said there is no “magic pill” that will grant you quick results with your money.

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Dhot said if someone is pressuring you to send money in a short amount of time or incentivizing you with an incredible rate of return, you need to take a step back and call your financial institution to get their advice.

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White said there are four major red flags to keep an eye out for: “Is it international? Is it a secret? Are they asking you to invest like a pension fund or a millionaire? And are they making an outlandish rate of return promise?”

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If the advertisement is checking off any of these boxes, it is probably a scam, he said.

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The CSA features a page on its website with a list of the most common red flags, which also include unsolicited contact with casual familiarity, investment opportunities presented out of nowhere, special fees or taxes to withdraw funds and opportunities tied to trends or recent events.

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Blanchette said it is important to do your own research and “check before you invest,” such as looking up a business’s registration number, for example.

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“Don’t act under pressure and be vigilant about strangers offering advertisements on the internet,” she said.

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Falzon said taking steps to protect yourself ahead of time is important. For example, he said keep personal information confidential and use complex passwords or get a password manager to ensure you are not repeating your login credentials across multiple websites. Look into cybersecurity technologies to protect your mobile devices and laptops, he added.

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Dhot said it’s important to treat your financial hygiene as you would your health. This means not sending money to unknown entities, clicking on suspicious links or sharing your personal information. It also means monitoring your accounts, using multi-factor authentication and double-checking when you are making monetary transfers, he said.

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You’ve been scammed. What should you do next?

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Once you have realized you may have been scammed, Dhot said it is important to inform law enforcement, the CAFC and your financial institutions.

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He also recommended signing up for fraud alerts on your bank accounts, in case someone tries to open new accounts or financial products under your name, and consistently monitoring your credit.

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If you are concerned your personal information may have been compromised by a scam, immediately change your financial credentials, Falzon said, as this can help prevent a scammer from making any financial transactions in your name.

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You are not always going to get your money back, however. “Most of time, you, yourself, are authorizing a transfer of your funds,” Dhot said. “That’s why (prevention) is so important.”

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In some cases, your money may have been fully converted to a cryptocurrency or moved to an offshore account in a jurisdiction that doesn’t extradite a person accused of the crime, White said. But if you have caught on to the scam early, or the criminal operation itself is in its early days, it is possible you may get your money back, he said.

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Most importantly, “Don’t be ashamed,” White said. “If you tell your story, there’s a good chance that you’ve saved one other person from going through the same thing.”

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