Bombarded with spam texts? Statistics show that the problem has worsened in Canada

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At least once a day, Digvijay Kosamia looks at her vibrating mobile phone to check the latest text, only to find an “upsetting” message from an unknown number.

Sometimes it's a Canada Post message about a package that Kosamia didn't order.

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Other times, a message tells him that a major bank has suspended his card, which is filled with the first four digits of the account. He must follow a mysterious URL to unlock the card.

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“I don't think I fell for it,” said the Vancouver native, who describes herself as tech-savvy.

“But I am worried about my wife and children. I'm sure they have.”

Kosamia's experience — she estimates she sometimes receives up to 15 or 20 spam texts a week — is not unique in Canada. Many say they were flooded with spam and fake texts.

Organizations tasked with monitoring spam and enforcing anti-spam laws say the numbers confirm the common understanding. In particular, messages that involve phishing — an attack in which a fraudster attempts to trick a recipient into clicking on a malicious link, downloading malware or sharing sensitive information — are on the rise.

“The calls are probably down,” Kosamia said. “But spam has increased.”

A multi-million dollar problem

Last year, 5,395 text messages were sent to the Canadian Fraud Center, which collects fraud intelligence across Canada and assists local police in enforcement and prevention.

About $24 million was lost to fraud where text messaging was the primary method of communication last year, said Jeff Horncastle, a spokesman for the Anti-Fraud Center, noting an increase over 2022.

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But those numbers may be a “drop in the bucket,” as the center estimates that only 5 to 10 percent of fraud victims report incidents.

“Honestly, as we see it, that's the goal of everything, and a lot of it has to do with automation,” Horncastle said.

Canada's telecommunications regulator, which enforces anti-spam legislation, is also seeing more text message scams.

In the six months to March 31 of this year, 4,705 complaints were received through the online form to the National Spam Reporting Center. A fifth of the complaints involved text messages.

According to the CRTC, about 45 percent of text-related reports were phishing messages and 13 percent were other scams.

He said reports have increased in part because of the proliferation of employment scams that begin with text messages promising good pay for a few hours a week.

They often become more serious threats, Horncastle said. He described a frequent scenario in which victims, after earning some money, are asked to invest some of their funds to curry favor with their employer. The CRTC noted that recipients can unwittingly become a “mule” – someone who transfers ill-gotten money or goods on behalf of a fraudster.

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In addition to AI playing a role in making spam texts seem personal, Horncastle said victims often fall for these schemes because the original message comes with the logo of a prominent organization claimed by the sender.

“We're seeing … Service Ontario, the CRA logo, the Canada.ca logo appear in text messages to make it more credible,” he said.

“If they claim to be a certain financial institution, they include the first four digits of the customer's card number. Many victims do not realize that the first four to six digits are the same as the actual financial institution.”

Protection methods

According to the Canadian Telecommunications Association, which represents carriers and manufacturers in the industry, people who receive an unsolicited text message claiming to be from their bank, law enforcement or government agency should never give out personal information in response.

Instead, he recommends calling the appropriate agency using the contact information on their website to determine if the message is legitimate.

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The association is also urging anyone who receives a text message they believe to be a scam to report it to 7726 (SPAM), which will alert their mobile service provider to start investigating the message itself.

“Wireless providers continue to invest in developing and deploying measures to reduce unwanted text messages, such as using scanning and filtering software, while ensuring that customers still receive text messages that are important to them,” said CTA spokesman Nick Koenka. statement.

“We advise consumers not to click on any links in text messages that appear suspicious, including messages from someone you do not know or expect.”

Pierre-Luc Denis, the CRTC's director of e-commerce protection, said the regulator is working with telecommunications companies to allow them to block certain types of traffic that compromise consumer security as they occur.

This is just one example of how the CRTC is trying to be proactive as text message scams evolve. But Denis says scammers are always trying to stay one step ahead, adjusting their schemes based on what does and doesn't work or what law enforcement and regulators catch wind of.

“Bad actors find new ways to get their way, so to speak,” he said.

“The technical landscape evolves very quickly, and once a particular technique is overused or it's looked at … you'll see a shift to a different type of fraud.”

Denis described the rise in such incidents as an “international trend,” noting that the CRTC consults with its counterparts in other countries to stay up-to-date on emerging scams that may find their way into Canada.

“This is a global problem,” he said.

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