Scammers now impersonating senior government officials and CEOs to swindle Canadians
'The malicious actors have sent text messages and AI-generated voice messages — techniques known as smishing and vishing, respectively — that claim to come from a senior US official in an effort to establish rapport before gaining access to personal accounts,' the FBI warned.
Article content
'If you receive a message claiming to be from a senior US official, do not assume it is authentic.'
Article content
For the head of the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange, Jennifer Quaid, these types of scams have become so prevalent that she now suggests to private sector workers that they shouldn't always believe that it's their boss that's calling when the number appears on their phones.
Article content
'Never assume it's your boss,' she told National Post.
Article content
'I would give a CEO, a CFO and my 21-year-old daughter exactly the same advice: stop and think about it. Take a minute to think about what the request is, and then say, 'I will call you back' and reach out to that person using another known channel of communication,' she added.
Article content
Article content
'If your boss is serious about wanting you to transfer $20 million, I don't think they're going to object to your saying, 'I will call you right back'.'
Article content
Just in the first three months of 2025, the Anti-Fraud Centre says it has received nearly 13,000 reports of fraud generating over $165 million in losses for 9,092 victims. But as always, that is only the tip of the iceberg as the vast majority of victims don't report the crime to authorities.
Article content
Both the Cyber Centre and Quaid say AI has tremendously boosted criminals' ability to make their scams more believable. But Quaid also believes that threat actors not being constrained by legal AI guardrails has allowed them to harness AI faster and more effectively than businesses trying to defend themselves.
Article content
'They're not using it with rules. We have rules, and I want to be very clear, rules are a very good thing,' Quaid said of scammers. 'But they are operating in a criminal environment without rules, without regard to due process and without regard to privacy, and that's why they're able to do more with some of these tools than we are.'
Article content
Article content
In recent weeks, government agencies have increasingly warned Canadians that scammers are spoofing their phone numbers to appear legitimate. Spoofing allows fraudsters display a fake number on a phone's caller ID.
Article content
Even organizations like the Communications Security Establishment, the country's cyberdefence agency, have not been spared.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
DROVER: BUSTED! CBC caught trying to keep Canadians in the dark
The CBC/Radio Canada sign on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporations building in Vancouver is pictured on May 28, 2013. Photo by Gerry Kahrmann / Postmedia Network files The CBC just got caught trying to shut the courtroom doors on Canadians. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Yes, the same CBC that spent years preaching about transparency and the public's right to know. Now, when it suits them, they're the ones trying to keep journalists out of courtrooms. Last month, the state broadcaster lost a court battle to impose a publication ban on a misconduct hearing involving one of its own managers, as first reported by Blacklock's Reporter. The facts are simple: An independent workplace investigation found that a CBC producer harassed a colleague. He was suspended for a month without pay and his union filed a grievance. In return, the CBC tried to keep the whole thing secret. Thankfully, the Québec Superior Court was having none of it. 'The publicity of the proceedings is strongly presumed,' ruled Justice Ian Demers. 'The consequences of disclosure must outweigh any inconvenience, annoyance or embarrassment.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Let's be clear: The CBC wanted to block rival reporters from covering a case that made the CBC look bad. That's not protecting privacy, that's protecting reputations. But the CBC's hypocrisy is staggering. This is the same broadcaster that fought to televise Supreme Court proceedings. The same broadcaster that once argued the open court principle is a cornerstone of democracy. But, when its own misconduct is on the line, the CBC suddenly wants a media blackout. Canadian taxpayers shouldn't have to put up with this. Taxpayers are forced to shell out more than $1 billion a year to the CBC — a media outlet that fewer and fewer Canadians actually watch. And instead of using that money to build trust with taxpayers, the CBC is doing the opposite. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Here at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, we've spent years trying to figure out where your money is going. We've filed access to information requests asking basic questions: How much is the CBC spending on executive bonuses? How much money are they wasting on advertising? How much is being poured into public polling and so-called research? The results are almost always the same — pages and pages of redactions and black ink. The lack of transparency is offensive. It shouldn't take legal action to find out how a taxpayer-funded broadcaster spends taxpayer money. But that's exactly what we've had to do. Right now, the CTF is in federal court because the CBC refuses to release even the total amount it spends on advertising. Not detailed invoices or confidential contracts, but just the total amount they spend. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's how little respect the CBC has for the people who pay the bills. Instead of justifying its funding with real transparency and real accountability, the CBC is doubling down on secrecy. That's not how a responsible, taxpayer-funded organization behaves. That's how an entitled government bureaucracy acts when it thinks it's above scrutiny. Looking at the ratings, the CBC knows it's losing relevance. According to its latest quarterly report, only 1.7% of English-speaking Canadians are tuning in to its flagship prime-time news program. That means more than 98% of viewers are choosing something else. Yet taxpayers are still forced to pay the freight. At this point, it's not just about waste, but about principle. No organization that feeds off taxpayer funds should be allowed to operate in the shadows. And it's about setting a precedent. Too many federal agencies and Crown corporations think they can keep taxpayers in the dark. If the CBC gets away with this kind of secrecy, it sets a dangerous principle for the entire federal bureaucracy. Canadians deserve better. They deserve to know how their money is being spent. They deserve real transparency. And they deserve a government that doesn't treat accountability like a threat. Enough is enough. Devin Drover is general counsel for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation World Columnists Editorial Cartoons Relationships Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
GOLDSTEIN: Removing all of Trump's tariffs no longer realistic
Negotiating a deal with the U.S. President that Canadians can live with is more realistic Get the latest from Lorrie Goldstein straight to your inbox U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions while departing the White House with first lady Melania Trump on July 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo by Win McNamee / Getty Images While Canada's official goal in trade negotiations with the U.S is to remove all tariffs imposed on us by President Donald Trump, it's now clear this is an aspirational target rather than a realistic one. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The realistic one is to negotiate a deal with Trump that Canadians can live with, given that the U.S. President, a self-described 'tariff person,' is on a campaign to use them to demolish the existing global economic order in favour of the U.S. If Prime Minister Mark Carney can pull a rabbit out of his hat and get all of Trump's tariffs removed by Canada's new negotiating deadline of Aug. 1 – replacing the previous deadline of July 21 – all power to him, but that's a huge hill to climb. In fact, both of these dates were and are artificial lines drawn in the sand that put unnecessary pressure on Canada to reach a deal, when the real issue is what's in the deal, not when it's signed. Carney announced the July 21 deadline – saying Trump had agreed to it – at the G7 meeting Carney chaired in Kananaskis, Alberta in mid-June, following direct talks with the U.S. President and meetings between Canadian and U.S. negotiators. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At the time, optimism was running high with Trump, while not publicly committing to any specific date, saying he thought a deal with Canada was possible. Read More In explaining his reasoning for the 30-day deadline, Carney said 'in negotiations, having a form of deadline is helpful to concentrate the mind.' But within days, Carney was downplaying whether it was possible to achieve an agreement by July 21, making the obvious point that despite having a so-called deadline, 'nothing's assured.' Since then, Trump has threatened to end the trade talks because of Canada's digital services tax on U.S. tech giants, which Carney quickly scrapped in order to restart the negotiations, raising legitimate criticism that folding so quickly was a far cry from his 'elbows up' rhetoric during the federal election. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trump then announced a 50% tariff on copper and a 35% tariff on Canadian imports not covered by the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement Trump agreed to in his first term as president. Trump said both of those tariffs will come into effect on Aug. 1. Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during his closing G7 press conference in Kananaskis, Alta., Tuesday, June 17, 2025. Photo by Gavin Young / Postmedia Network In response, Carney said Canada is now working towards Trump's Aug. 1 deadline for imposing new tariffs, to come up with a deal, meaning Canadian negotiators are now working on a deadline imposed by Trump. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told CBC's The House on Saturday, correctly in my view, that it was a mistake for Carney to get into the game of deadline-setting with Trump. 'The challenge with a unilateral, self-imposed deadline is that it tells the counterparty that they have you on a clock – a clock that only applies to you,' Poilievre said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I personally think it would have been better not to show that up front to the Americans because we know that President Trump will try to take advantage of it.' Carney had previously said that if no trade deal was reached by July 21, Canada would impose counter-tariffs in response to Trump's announcement he would double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50% – which he announced prior to the G7 meeting. In light of the new Trump-imposed deadline of Aug. 1, Canada now says it will delay that move pending the outcome of the negotiations by that deadline. RECOMMENDED VIDEO But counter-tariffs themselves are problematic because they raise the cost of living for Canadians on tariffed goods imported from the U.S. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As Industry Minister Melanie Joly has noted, save for China, Canada is the 'only country in the world' to have already imposed 'so many' counter-tariffs on the U.S. The Carney government says it will use the increased revenue from its counter-tariffs to provide financial support to Canadian workers in tariff-vulnerable sectors of the economy. In terms of the political impact of all this on Carney, it will depend on what the deal with Trump says – if any deal is possible – rather than when it's signed. This with the caveat that it was Trump who started this tariff war and whether it would have been possible for any prime minister to achieve a good deal for Canada, using confrontation or capitulation tactics, against a determined and unpredictable American president armed with an economy 10 times the size of our own. lgoldstein@ Toronto Raptors World Columnists Editorial Cartoons Relationships
Montreal Gazette
5 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
Far fewer Quebecers and other Canadians travelling to the U.S. this year: StatCan
By Far fewer Canadians — including Quebecers — are travelling to the United States this year than they did in 2024. Recently released Statistics Canada data shows a sharp decline in Canadians returning to the country from abroad, driven by a decline in travel from the United States. The decline in travel, which also includes fewer U.S. visitors entering Canada, tracks with the first months of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. This second Trump presidency has seen a sharp deterioration in Canada-U.S. relations marked by aggressive tariffs on Canadian goods and threats of annexation. With it have come calls to boycott American goods — and American vacations. Depending on the metric, travel from the U.S. has declined year-over-year every month since either January or February. Trump took office Jan. 20. In June, 1.3 million Canadians returned home from the United States at land crossings, making for 33-per-cent fewer trips than in June 2024. June was the sixth consecutive month that fewer Canadians crossed the land border back into the country, compared with the same months in 2024. Quebecers cut back on U.S. travel even more. Just 164,000 Canadians crossed the U.S. border into Quebec in June, a 43-per-cent decrease from June 2024, when 286,000 people made the same trip. Americans are also opting to travel to Canada less: 1.4 million U.S. residents entered Canada in June 2025, a 10-per-cent decline from 2024 and the fifth consecutive month that U.S. travel to Canada declined. Airports are also less busy, with 3.4-per-cent fewer Canadians —1.2 million people — returning to the country by plane this June than in June 2024. The drop was driven by a decrease in return trips from the U.S.: 364,000 Canadian residents made that journey, a 22-per-cent decline from June last year. But arrivals from outside the U.S. increased, with 867,000 Canadians returning from countries outside the U.S. this June, 7.3 per cent more than in June 2024.
