Alert: Fraudulent text message impersonating Payments Canada

Details: 

• Delivery: Text message 
• Request: You receive a text message from an unknown number with a picture of the Payments Canada logo and a notice that funds are being returned to you. The perpetrator is asking you to click a link for more details.

What you should know:

Payments Canada will never reach out to the general public to elicit or reimburse any sort of payment. This is a scam. Scams often appear to be sent from organizations or personal contacts, typically asking for financial or personal information.

What you should do: 

• Never open attachments or click on links from suspicious text messages.
• If the text message appears to be suspicious — even if it comes from a person or organization you know — contact them to verify if it’s legitimate.
• Never provide personal information in a text message.
• Please notify us by forwarding a screenshot of the text message to info@payments.ca.
• Delete the text message.
• If you suspect you’ve been a victim of fraud or notice unauthorized activity on your bank account, please contact your financial institution directly.

For more information on how to protect yourself from phishing text messages, please visit getcybersafe.gc.ca.