Online scams are a growing concern for Canadians, and victims often have limited options for recourse or recovering lost funds. In accordance with standard client account agreements, consumers are generally held responsible for all transactions and losses resulting from their actions.
This page references the ways you can contact Online Scam Busters to tell them about how you became the victim of a recent scam. We refer to these services as "scam baiters", they have also been called "scammer catchers" and
Step 1: You should report the scam or fraud to the appropriate government, law enforcement and financial services before any of these online scam baiter and buster channels.
Step 2: To aid in reporting to a scam baiter, gather relevant details about the fraud, including names, dates, phone numbers, email addresses, and website URLs. When sharing this information ensure that all specific personal information has been redacted (black mark placed over data to prevent sharing) or removed.
Most legitimate scam baiters are interested in the initial scam information and a generalization of what information you provided to the scammer. "I gave him my name, address, phone number, etc". The scam baiter doesn't need your personal information, they are more interested in the scammers and the method they used to scam (or attempt to scam) you.
Legitimate scam baiters work with law enforcement, however, their main objective is to harass scammers and to try and prevent future scams. They will do the less than ethical things that you might not be prepared to do (harass or provoke scammers, access, manipulate and potentially disrupt scammer computers, camera systems, internet services and personal data). Telling a scam baiter about how you were scammed does not incriminate you in any activities performed by the scam baiter.
This page references the ways you can contact Online Scam Busters to tell them about how you became the victim of a recent scam. We refer to these services as "scam baiters", they have also been called "scammer catchers" and
Step 1: You should report the scam or fraud to the appropriate government, law enforcement and financial services before any of these online scam baiter and buster channels.
Step 2: To aid in reporting to a scam baiter, gather relevant details about the fraud, including names, dates, phone numbers, email addresses, and website URLs. When sharing this information ensure that all specific personal information has been redacted (black mark placed over data to prevent sharing) or removed.
Most legitimate scam baiters are interested in the initial scam information and a generalization of what information you provided to the scammer. "I gave him my name, address, phone number, etc". The scam baiter doesn't need your personal information, they are more interested in the scammers and the method they used to scam (or attempt to scam) you.
Legitimate scam baiters work with law enforcement, however, their main objective is to harass scammers and to try and prevent future scams. They will do the less than ethical things that you might not be prepared to do (harass or provoke scammers, access, manipulate and potentially disrupt scammer computers, camera systems, internet services and personal data). Telling a scam baiter about how you were scammed does not incriminate you in any activities performed by the scam baiter.
REPORT A SCAMMER OR FRAUD TO GOVERNMENT / LEGAL RESOURCES:
Scam Prevention Canada Information
REPORT A SCAM TO ONLINE SCAM BAITER RESOURCES:
SCAM BAITERS ON YOUTUBE
