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Many scams and fraud attempt to imitate government services in order to gain access to your personal and financial information. It may be a scam if someone: Demands immediate payment. Uses threatening language. Sends you a link and ask you to click on it. Asks for personal or financial information. Requests payment by cryptocurrency or gift cards.
- How to report fraud and scams in Canada - Competition Bureau
Step 3: Report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud...
- Scams and fraud - CRA - Report a scam or identity theft - Canada
If you suspect or know someone else is using your Social...
- How to report fraud and scams in Canada - Competition Bureau
Report a scam or a fraud. If you suspect you may be the victim of fraud, contact your local police service. You can also ask for help from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or by calling 1‑888-495-8501. Report the theft of your Social Insurance Number (SIN) by contacting Service Canada at 1-866-274-6627.
Step 3: Report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or the Competition Bureau. Contact the Fraud Reporting System (Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre) or call toll-free at 1-888-495-8501. You can also file a report of a misleading or deceptive marketing practice with the Competition Bureau using the online complaint form.
- Overview
- "What could they do with my Social Security number?"
- First step - Place a temporary fraud alert on your credit
- Second step - Get a copy of your credit report
- Third step - File a police report
- Fourth step - File a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center
- Fifth step - Notify the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Going forward
- "Can I get a new Social Security number?"
- More information
If your Social Security number is exposed in a breach or leak, it's important that you act quickly to prevent identity thieves from doing more damage.
An identity thief who has your social security number and other personal information could do a number of things with it, including:
•Open new credit accounts, like credit cards or car loans, in your name
•Claim tax refunds that rightfully belong to you
•Create a fake identity to get a job, apartment, or other services
•Claim fraudulent unemployment benefits in your name
•Get benefits like healthcare while pretending to be you
Also known as an "Initial security alert" this tells the major credit bureaus that you're a victim of identity theft. If a business attempts to check your credit they're notified that a fraud alert has been placed on the account and that they should verify the identity of anybody attempting to open an account or get credit with your Social Security number.
It's free to place a temporary fraud alert on your account, it does not affect your credit score, and the temporary fraud alert will automatically expire in 1 year, though you can cancel it sooner if you want to.
Under U.S. Federal law you're entitled to a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three credit reporting companies. To request a free copy of your credit report, go to https://annualcreditreport.com. It generally takes just a minute or two to get the report which you can then save or print so you can review it carefully.
When you're reviewing your credit report, you're primarily looking for any accounts or activity that are unfamiliar. Those could be credit cards that you don't recognize, or loans for cars or property that you never applied for.
Even if you think the police are unlikely to make an arrest there's still a lot of value in filing a police report to establish an official record of your identity being stolen.
Contact your local police department and tell them that your identity has been stolen and that you'd like to file a report. They should provide you with a copy of the report when it's done, but if they don't offer you one, be sure to ask for it. It's an important tool to have as you take steps to resolve this and to protect you from any future fraudulent activity.
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a department of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) whose job is to handle reports of online crime like identity theft. When you file a complaint with them, they may share that information with other appropriate law enforcement agencies.
To file a complaint, go to https://www.ic3.gov.
A common scam these days is for criminals to file a false tax return with your Social Security number and claim your tax refund for themselves. There are two things you can do to reduce the risk of that happening. The first is to file your taxes as early as possible and the second is to let the IRS know that your Social Security number was stolen.
You'll want to fill out and file Form 14039. It's a short form and probably won't take more than a minute or two to fill out. Start here: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-irs-id-theft-victim-assistance-works
Get a credit monitoring service
To avoid any fraudulent credit transactions, set up a credit monitoring service such as Defender's Identity theft monitoring. This service helps monitor your credit reports and enables you to take an immediate action as soon as an unknown activity is identified. Additionally, the subscribers of Defender's Identity theft monitoring can contact the Experian® restoration services in case of any fraudulent credit activity. This service is available only for the subscribers of this credit monitoring service. For more information on how to set up this service, see Getting started with identity theft monitoring in Microsoft Defender
Filing taxes
Fraudsters will sometimes file fake tax returns with the name and Social Security number of an innocent person, then they claim the tax refund that is due to that person. When the real person later files their taxes they have a complicated process to go through to get the refund that is rightfully due to them. To reduce the risk of this happening, try to file your tax return as early in the tax filing season as possible. If your legitimate return arrives at the IRS before any fraudulent returns do then it's the criminals who are frustrated, instead of you.
Keep an eye on your credit score
Unexpected changes in your credit score could indicate unauthorized activity using your Social Security number. Most banks and credit card companies these days offer you your credit score as an added perk of doing business with them. Sign into their website and take note of what your score is. Small changes of a few points up or down are normal, but if it suddenly jumps or plunges unexpectedly you should get a fresh copy of your credit report to see why it changed.
Yes, you can but it's a fairly involved process and requires you to apply in person at a Social Security office and provide a valid reason for changing your Social Security number. Being a victim of identity theft is considered a valid reason, but only if you're having persistent and ongoing problems as a result of the theft and you will have to provide documentation to support your claim. You'll also be asked to provide documents proving your age and citizenship status (such as a birth certificate).
If you get a new number, the old number isn't deleted. The new number is connected to the old number and as a result this will often turn up on background checks, which may prompt additional questions.
Protecting yourself from identity theft online
The dangers of oversharing
Report cybercrimes and fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre through their Fraud Reporting System. Or by telephone at 1-888-495-8501. The CAFC uses reports to maintain a repository of information to assist law enforcement. Inform your businesses, bank, and credit card providers to ensure that your accounts or credit cards have not been ...
If you suspect or know someone else is using your Social Insurance Number (SIN), report it to Service Canada: 1-866-274-6627. For details: Scam and fraud prevention at Service Canada. Notify the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. After you've reported a scam or any unauthorized changes to your CRA account, you should also notify the Canadian Anti ...
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Nov 22, 2023 · When the Social Security Administration calls, you pick up. But between October 2022 and June 2023, more than 55,000 people who answered calls from what they thought was the government agency said they were scammed. Allegations of Social Security scams increased 61.7% in the quarters ending in June 2022 and June 2023, according to the […]
