Police across northern Ontario say fraud is becoming increasingly sophisticated, with scammers using artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and social media to target victims.
The warnings come as March marks fraud prevention month in Canada.
Const. Kyler Brouwer, with the North Bay Ontario Provincial Police, said fraud reports are a regular occurrence across the region.
“Across our 12 detachments of the northeast region we’re at least getting a report a day on fraud,” Brouwer said.
But he explained that number likely represents only a fraction of what’s happening.
“We know that fraud is one of the under-reported crimes out there as well. So I’m sure it’s happening a lot more than just that,” he said.
Fraud remains significantly underreported, with an estimated five per cent to 10 per cent of incidents reported, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, located in North Bay.
In 2025, reported fraud losses in Canada exceeded $700 million, according to the centre.
Organized crime networks behind many scams
While fraud scams do sometimes originate inside Canada, many are tied to organized crime groups operating overseas, said Jeff Horncastle, a client communications outreach officer with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
“Fraudsters can reach victims basically anywhere in the world. So it’s one of the only types of crimes that can come right into our, our living room, so to speak,” he said.
In 2025 alone, the centre documented victim payments sent to more than 3,000 unique bank accounts across 46 countries.
Those included Hong Kong, Vietnam, the United States, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and India.
Artificial intelligence or AI, is increasingly being used to make scams more convincing, Horncastle explained.
“For example, we might see an advertisement where there’s a trusted political figure promoting maybe a crypto investment platform or merchandise,” he said.
“We have to remember that this technology out there to make fake videos and they’re very realistic looking.”
In some cases, he said criminals clone a person’s voice using short audio clips found online. Victims may receive a phone call that sounds like a family member urgently asking for money after a supposed accident, arrest or other emergency.
Horncastle said fraudsters may also pose as employees from banks or government agencies, telling victims there has been suspicious activity on their account and instructing them to move money to a so-called secure account.
He added that scammers can use phone spoofing technology to make those calls appear to come from legitimate phone numbers, including numbers associated with banks or government offices.
Brouwer said scammers may study social media profiles to gather information about family members and relationships.
“They use that information to make [scams] seem a lot more believable at the time that they’re making the call,” Brouwer said.
Investment scams driving major losses
Detective Const. Zach Dagg, with the North Bay Police Service, said investment scams, particularly those involving cryptocurrency, remain one of the most costly types of fraud.
I’ve seen a couple of fairly high value investment type scams where victims have lost in the $300,000 to $500,000 range. That’s obviously life changing for somebody.– Detective Const. Zach Dagg
The North Bay police received 352 fraud reports in 2025 and residents lost $1.8 million in the first eight months of that year, according to Dagg.
He explained that many victims believe they are investing through legitimate websites or online platforms. In some cases, websites appearing at the top of search results may themselves be operated by scammers.
“Just because something shows up on a Google search result, it doesn’t mean it’s legitimate,” Dagg said.
Victims sometimes targeted again
Horncastle said people who fall victim to scams are often targeted a second time.
Scammers may contact victims claiming they can recover the lost funds for a fee, but Horncastle said those offers are typically scams as well. He said the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is not aware of private companies that can recover funds lost to scams.
Brouwer said many scams rely on creating urgency and convincing victims not to tell anyone about what is happening.
“If they say there’s a gag order or if you tell somebody the deal is off, that is a red flag,” Brouwer said.
Dagg said while reporting the scam immediately can give police an investigative advantage, many victims don’t realize until it’s too late.
“Fraud is kind of one of those things that goes on for a number of months before people typically realize,” he said. “That is even if the victim chooses to report, because a lot of times there’s that whole embarrassment factor.”
Many victims of fraud chose not to report the crime due to feelings of embarrassment, Dagg said.
“What happens is people, in the moment of urgency, they act and they do what’s asked of them. Once they’ve thought about it and they recognize all of the red flags… they feel embarrassed about it, they feel ashamed about it,” he said.
“It’s something they’re reluctant to share with their family members who may be upset with them.”
Dagg said reporting fraud to police quickly can increase the chances that money can be recovered, but it’s not guaranteed, especially if the scam originated overseas.
“Unfortunately [fraud investigations are] really difficult because a lot of these countries where organized crime in relation to fraud proliferates, their countries are not cooperative with authorities here,” he said.
Horncastle said one of the most effective ways to avoid fraud is taking time to think before responding to unexpected requests for money.
“Don’t react right away,” Horncastle said. “If you get a suspicious call, always trust that instinct, whether it’s a call or text message, email, because as we all know, fraud is everywhere now.”