Fake websites for real companies are scamming Canadian consumers and businesses
CBC
Avoiding online scams is nothing new for many Canadians, but companies and anti-fraud professionals are warning consumers to watch for fake listings on search engines that try to redirect people to fraudulent versions of familiar companies and brands.
These listings pose as existing businesses and involve new search results popping up, either directing consumers to a fake website that looks similar to the real thing, or providing phone numbers that don't actually lead to the company in question.
Calgarian Reza Bacchus ran into this issue when trying to search for a new cowboy hat — specifically, a Stetson.
"I came across this StetsonHatCanada.com website ... so I just clicked and purchased it, easy," he said.
Bacchus had been searching for stores that carry Stetson hats because he said they have limited availability in Canada. He had previously been unable to buy from the main Stetson website as it did not ship to Canada.
Bacchus' initial surprise at a Canadian website should have been a red flag. The website was a fake duplicate. He never received his hat despite spending about $100 US. After a month of waiting, customer service from the real Stetson company confirmed he was scammed.
"I got a disappointing but a friendly email [from Stetson.com]... they had received emails concerning this unauthorized website," explained Bacchus, who eventually travelled to Vancouver to buy a Stetson hat at one of the few brick and mortar stores to carry them in Canada.
As for the money, he filed a chargeback claim with his credit card company and received his funds back after several months.
It's difficult to determine exactly how many Canadians are affected by this specific scam, or how much money is lost. According to the RCMP, only 5 to 10 per cent of fraud cases are reported in Canada. In 2023, those reports accounted for $567 million in losses, but that could include everything from immigration fraud to cryptocurrency scams.
Reported fraud of all types has increased by $187 million since 2021 — and that's with only a small minority of cases actually reported or tracked.
A similar problem is hitting customers of the travel agent chain Flight Centre.
"There's plenty of toll free numbers listed on Google right now," said executive vice-president Chadd Andre, who explained that when customers are searching for Flight Centre phone numbers in various cities, such as "Flight Centre Scarborough" they are seeing business listings that contain fake phone numbers.
Those phone numbers do not put a caller through to a legitimate branch of Flight Centre, but an unknown call centre.
CBC News called several of the listed numbers and was unable to get anyone to identify themselves or their locations.
