{"id":690,"date":"2026-04-15T18:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/?p=690"},"modified":"2026-04-20T18:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:34:07","slug":"fintrac-commences-crypto-fraud-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/?p=690","title":{"rendered":"Fintrac commences crypto fraud crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h19SvzKx28LtBVxgk9fyOWk\"><strong><strong>Fintrac commences crypto fraud crackdown<\/strong><\/strong><br>Crypto scammers, you&#8217;ve been warned.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.beehiiv.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=scale-down,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect\/uploads\/asset\/file\/940dd0d6-9574-4f27-bc11-36fb06a00d5a\/Crypto_trade.png\" alt=\"Fintrac commences crypto fraud crackdown\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canadian regulators are tired of being bested by sketchy crypto traders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What happened:<\/strong> Fintrac \u2014 Canada\u2019s money laundering watchdog \u2014 has stripped the registrations of 53 money services businesses (MSBs) based in B.C. since the start of March, per the<a href=\"https:\/\/theijf.org\/article\/bc-msbs-deregistered?utm_campaign=fintrac-commences-crypto-fraud-crackdown&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=www.readthepeak.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Investigative Journalism Foundation<\/a>. The spree is part of a wider clampdown on shady crypto firms carrying out scams, criminal financing, and illegal money transfers.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to a report from March, Fintrac revoked 269 MSB licences over a five-year period \u2014 more than 10% of them were stripped in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/investigations\/money-laundering-watchdog-revokes-crypto-firms-registrations-as-canadas-finance-minister-vows-to-maintain-momentum-in-its-crackdown\/article_e7fe5a58-0bd3-4f51-a49a-0ee3c937a872.html?utm_campaign=fintrac-commences-crypto-fraud-crackdown&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=www.readthepeak.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10-day stretch<\/a> last month.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Zoom out:<\/strong> Crypto exchanges must register with Fintrac as an MSB to operate in Canada and offer buying, selling, and trading services. However, once registered, many of these firms simply reroute the crypto traded on their platforms to foreign exchanges and wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The registration process allows scammers to lure customers, using the registration as a sign of legitimacy, only to move their funds to an unregulated offshore exchange.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> Canada\u2019s lax protections have earned it a reputation as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/investigations\/canada-has-become-weak-link-in-fight-against-crypto-scams\/article_bc0ad357-cff2-4d89-9061-9abe38a44fc6.html?utm_campaign=fintrac-commences-crypto-fraud-crackdown&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=www.readthepeak.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">global laggard<\/a> in fighting crypto fraud. This recent crackdown \u2014 along with changes requiring criminal background checks for MSB registrations \u2014 suggests that regulators have finally gotten the memo.<br>&nbsp;<br><strong>Yes, but:<\/strong> Critics believe that tighter, crypto-specific regulation is still needed, and that regulators and law enforcement must have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/business\/crypto-to-cash-canada-9.6979928?utm_campaign=fintrac-commences-crypto-fraud-crackdown&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=www.readthepeak.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more capacity<\/a> to get a fair shot at combating the many illicit firms that don\u2019t even bother to register.<em>\u2014QH<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fintrac commences crypto fraud crackdownCrypto scammers, you&#8217;ve been warned. Canadian regulators are tired of being bested by sketchy crypto traders. What happened: Fintrac \u2014 Canada\u2019s money laundering watchdog \u2014 has stripped the registrations of 53 money services businesses (MSBs) based in B.C. since the start of March, per the Investigative Journalism Foundation. The spree is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"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-690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":691,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions\/691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/refundauthority.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}