Identity theft in Canada often starts with something small (a credit inquiry you didn’t make, a compromised bank card or a suspicious account notice) and then spreads into credit, tax or benefit fraud. Acting in the first 24 to 48 hours limits how far it spreads. How the common fraud types work, and how to lower the risk of a repeat, is in banking fraud protection; if the theft began with a scam call or message, how to tell whether you’ve been scammed covers recognising and reporting it, and getting money back afterwards is in your finances after being scammed. Other account problems are in the banking security hub.
This guide follows the order that usually works best: protect your bank accounts, alert the credit bureaus, report the fraud, then clean up CRA, Service Canada and provincial records.
First 24 hours: Contain the damage
1. Contact your bank and credit card issuers immediately
Call the fraud departments of each financial institution you deal with rather than waiting for the next statement. Report any fraudulent charges, have the compromised account or card frozen or cancelled (a bank that has frozen the account itself will explain what it needs to lift the hold), change your online banking passwords and turn on transaction alerts. Account history going back 60 to 90 days helps you spot anything unfamiliar. Most Canadian banks have 24/7 fraud lines; the numbers are on the back of the card and on each bank’s page in the bank customer service directory. A lost card on its own has simpler steps, in what to do about a lost debit card.
2. Place a fraud alert with both credit bureaus
Contact Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada separately, because they don’t share fraud alerts. A fraud alert tells lenders to take extra steps to verify your identity before approving new credit in your name. It is free and usually lasts up to 6 years in Canada. Request a free copy of your credit report at the same time and look for accounts you did not open, inquiries you did not authorize, and addresses you do not recognize. If you find errors, how to dispute a credit report error in Canada explains the next step.
3. Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC)
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is the national reporting system for identity theft and fraud. You can file by phone at 1-888-495-8501 or online at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca. Keep the reference number it gives you for later dealings with the bank, the credit bureaus, the CRA or police. The other places to report (Service Canada, the Competition Bureau, the Privacy Commissioner) are listed in where to report a scam.
4. File a police report
Report to your local police department, in person or online depending on your municipality. Ask for the incident or file number and keep it accessible. You will need it repeatedly if you later dispute accounts, tax filings, or benefit claims.
A police report helps when you are disputing fraudulent accounts with creditors or credit bureaus, and some organizations will not remove the fraud without it.
Within the first week: Protect government accounts
5. Notify the CRA
If your SIN has been compromised, thieves may file a fraudulent tax return to claim your refund or access your CRA account. For a personal account, call the CRA’s identity theft line at 1-833-995-2336 (Monday to Friday, 6:30 am to 7 pm ET), where protections can be placed on your account during the call, and review CRA My Account Setup Guide so you can check whether anything has been changed without your consent. If a fraudulent return was filed in your name, you will usually need to file your actual return on paper with supporting documentation.
6. Contact Service Canada if your SIN was exposed
If you believe your SIN was stolen, call Service Canada at 1-866-274-6627 and review your My Service Canada Account for any fraudulent EI claims or account changes. A new SIN is only issued in limited circumstances when there is clear evidence of fraud, and Service Canada will usually want the police file number and supporting documents.
7. Cancel and replace your driver’s licence if it was stolen
If your driver’s licence was lost or stolen, contact your provincial registry to cancel and replace it. A stolen licence can be used for in-person identity fraud, so this step matters even if the rest of the scam started online. The registry depends on your province: ServiceOntario in Ontario, ICBC in BC, Service Alberta in Alberta, and SAAQ in Quebec.
Ongoing: Monitor and dispute
8. Dispute fraudulent accounts
For each fraudulent account or trade line on your credit report, get both credit reports, identify the accounts or inquiries you did not authorize, and send a dispute to the bureau and the creditor. Include your police report number, fraud alert confirmation, and a written statement. Credit bureaus must investigate most disputes within 30 days, and if they cannot verify the account they must remove it. Keep copies of every letter, screenshot, and report so you can follow up if anything stalls.
9. Check for employment fraud
Fraudsters sometimes use stolen identities to obtain employment and generate T4 slips, which can create tax problems later. If you see a T4 from an employer you never worked for, contact the employer directly and notify CRA. If CRA says you owe tax on income you never earned, file a fraudulent income dispute. If an Employment Insurance claim was filed without your knowledge, contact Service Canada and report it.
10. Continue monitoring
Keep checking your credit reports every few months during recovery, review your bank and credit card statements monthly, and log into CRA My Account and My Service Canada Account every few months until you are sure the fraud has stopped.
Identity theft recovery checklist
A summary of the steps above:
- Freeze accounts and report fraud to your bank and card issuers
- Place fraud alerts with Equifax and TransUnion
- File a police report
- Report the identity theft to CRA and Service Canada
- Dispute any fraudulent accounts in your credit reports
- Change passwords and enable two-factor authentication
- Keep monitoring credit, banking, and government accounts