Fraud calls cause significant losses to Canadians. Supported by offshore fraud call centres and easily accessible technologies, such as robocalls and spoofing, fraudsters manage to deliver scams despite the best efforts of law enforcement agencies, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and telecommunications service providers (TSPs). To better protect the public, the federal government must support the adoption of new techniques and technology, such as a timely implementation of the STIR/SHAKEN framework that sufficiently addresses competition and privacy concerns. The federal government should also improve cooperation between relevant public authorities at home and abroad, data collection, public awareness and transparency, and criminal legislation and enforcement.

The federal government should pay further attention to allegations that fraudsters exploit federal wireless number portability rules to conduct harmful unauthorized-porting scams. While the CRTC and TSPs are developing measures against unauthorized porting, more should be done to protect Canadians. More specifically, the Committee invites the federal government to urge the CRTC to conduct a public inquiry into unauthorized porting, and to step in and regulate the matter directly should the CRTC fail to do so.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an upsurge in fraud targeting Canadians. Indeed, between January 2020 and April 2020, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police observed that the number of fraud reports increased by 25% over the same period last year. The COVID-19 pandemic is putting lives and livelihoods at risk, and the Canadian economy in jeopardy. The federal government should prevent any further harm to Canadians. In the short term, increasing public awareness remains the most effective way to counter COVID-19−related fraud. The federal government should act now by launching a public awareness campaign in local and national media to warn Canadians against COVID‑19−related fraud.