Know how to recognize a scam claiming to be from Service Canada or 1 800 O-Canada

There are many sophisticated frauds and scams in Canada – with new ones invented daily. Many frauds and scams attempt to mimic real federal government services to gain access to your personal and financial information.

You should be vigilant when any person claiming to be a Service Canada or 1 800 O-Canada employee contacts you in a way that you are usually not contacted by the federal government. This could include:

• requests for personal information (such as a Social Insurance Number, credit card number, bank account number or passport number) by telephone, email or text, or
• notifications (text or email) or calls that attempt to complete a financial transaction (such as messages requesting to click on hyperlinks to deposit benefits or to pay taxes)

These emails, text messages, letters and calls (including recorded messages) may be fraudulent.

1 800 O-Canada is a general information service and does not usually make unsolicited attempts to contact Canadians.

In very rare cases, Service Canada may unexpectedly contact you in the course of delivering Government of Canada services.

Service Canada and 1 800 O-Canada only send information you have requested and only send notifications through services to which you have signed up.

What to do when in doubt

If you have been unexpectedly contacted by someone who claims to be a Service Canada employee and are doubtful of their identity, contact the 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) service.  In particular, if the person who contacted you claimed to be an investigator, the agent will verify whether their name is on the list of Service Canada investigators. As required, the agent will refer you directly to the program or service that tried to reach you so that you can obtain more information.