{"id":334,"date":"2026-03-02T22:19:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T22:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/?p=334"},"modified":"2026-03-17T22:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T22:29:13","slug":"asc-warns-alberta-investors-of-the-top-misleading-investment-fraud-tactics-to-watch-for-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/?p=334","title":{"rendered":"ASC warns Alberta investors of the top misleading investment fraud tactics to watch for in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"334\" class=\"elementor elementor-334\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-67e8bce e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"67e8bce\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-275ebcd elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"275ebcd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>CALGARY \u2013 January 19, 2026 \u2013 The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) today published\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkfirst.ca\/2026\/01\/19\/top-investment-scams-to-watch-for-in-alberta-in-2026-how-ai-driven-scams-are-shaping-investment-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">information on the top three scams and misleading tactics<\/a>\u00a0Alberta investors should watch out for this year and how they can protect themselves.\u00a0<\/p><p>In 2026, investors now face an ever-evolving landscape of online threats that can put their hard-earned money at risk: deepfakes, finfluencers, and the growing use of private messaging apps. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre research, Canadians lost more than $310 million to investment scams in 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p>\u201cThe tools and technology scammers use are rapidly evolving \u2013 from sophisticated deepfake impersonations to encrypted group chats \u2013 making fraud increasingly harder to detect at first glance,\u201d said Hilary McMeekin, Director of Communications and Investor Education. \u201cWe urge investors to slow down, check registration, and ensure any advice aligns with their investment goals and risk tolerance before investing.\u201d<\/p><p><strong>Top three harmful investment tactics to watch out for<\/strong><\/p><p><strong>Deepfakes or AI-Impersonations:<\/strong>\u00a0The ASC has seen deepfake content \u2013 images, video and audio created with artificial intelligence (AI) \u2013 often used to impersonate prominent political figures and select well-known Canadians in promotions for fraudulent investment and crypto schemes. Albertans should be aware of:<\/p><ul><li>Advertising, websites and social media posts that appear to feature credible public figures endorsing an investment opportunity, especially offerings that promise quick or guaranteed returns.\u00a0<\/li><li>Attempts by scammers to impersonate local individuals, including deepfakes of Alberta-based business leaders, industry experts, and other credible provincial public figures.\u00a0<\/li><li>The potential for a more sophisticated AI-driven approach that uses cloned voices and realistic likenesses of well-known financial advisors, finfluencers and virtual public speakers for seminars and online presentations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><p><strong>Private messaging apps:<\/strong>\u00a0Private messaging platforms, like WhatsApp and Telegram, are often used by fraudsters to engage with investors and build trust. After grabbing the victims\u2019 attention through an ad or social media post, scammers use these channels to bring people to group chats where they share promises of exclusive trips as investment incentives and guaranteed investment returns.\u00a0<\/p><p>Once these groups are established, scammers can often exploit the trust that already exists within personal networks by encouraging individuals to invite their contacts to join the chat. When family members or friends pass along invitations to investment groups, it creates a built\u2011in sense of credibility and lowers skepticism, allowing scammers to reach new victims without having to seek them out directly.<\/p><p>Many of these interactions lead investors to harmful investment schemes such as pump-and-dumps or crypto scams.<\/p><p><strong>Finfluencers and unregistered advice:<\/strong>\u00a0Digital creators typically seek monetization of their content through affiliate links, paid agreements, and other strategies that can blur the line between education and unregistered advice.\u00a0<\/p><p>The Canadian Securities Administrators and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asc.ca\/News-and-Publications\/News-Releases\/2025\/12\/11-CSA-and-CIRO-provide-guidance-for-finfluencers-and-firms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">issued guidance<\/a>\u00a0so that finfluencers and the firms they work with can understand and follow securities laws when posting investment information online. Generally, anyone offering investments or personalized investment advice must be registered with the ASC or another provincial securities regulator.\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>How can Albertans protect themselves?<\/strong><\/p><p>Investors can easily access all kinds of advice and information online and many of these marketing tactics leverage trust, urgency and perceived credibility to pressure investors into acting fast. The ASC encourages Albertans to pause, step back and take the time to do their own research and make sure an investment opportunity is right for them:<\/p><ul><li>Verify that the investment professionals, firms and online trading platforms they plan to use are registered by visiting the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkfirst.ca\/check-registration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Check Registration<\/a>\u00a0page on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.checkfirst.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CheckFirst.ca<\/a>.<\/li><li>Ask questions when something doesn\u2019t feel right, and report suspicious activity to the ASC by calling 403.355.3888 or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.asc.ca\/Enforcement\/File-a-Complaint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">online<\/a>. Early reporting helps the ASC act faster and protect others.<\/li><li>Access CheckFirst.ca for unbiased information and resources designed to help investors stay informed and avoid fraudulent schemes.<\/li><\/ul><p>The ASC is the regulatory agency responsible for administering the province&#8217;s securities laws. It is entrusted with fostering a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and with protecting investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada&#8217;s capital markets.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CALGARY \u2013 January 19, 2026 \u2013 The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) today published\u00a0information on the top three scams and misleading tactics\u00a0Alberta investors should watch out for this year and how they can protect themselves.\u00a0 In 2026, investors now face an ever-evolving landscape of online threats that can put their hard-earned money at risk: deepfakes, finfluencers, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_angie_page":false,"_eb_attr":"","page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=334"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}