{"id":94684,"date":"2026-02-26T13:41:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbcroyalbank.com\/en-ca\/?post_type=rbc_my_money_matter&p=94684"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:42:22","slug":"protect-your-business-from-impersonator-fraud-spot-it-and-stop-it","status":"publish","type":"rbc_my_money_matter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbcroyalbank.com\/en-ca\/my-money-matters\/business\/right-sized-business-advice\/commercial\/protect-your-business-from-impersonator-fraud-spot-it-and-stop-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect Your Business from Impersonator Fraud: Spot It and Stop It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Canadian businesses have been getting a lot of messages lately that appear to be from trusted sources but are actually from fraudsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year impersonator fraud emerged as the most widespread and costly form of online fraud perpetrated against Canadian businesses. According to a 2024 study<\/a> by Payments Canada, one in five businesses fell victim to payment related fraud in the previous six months, and one in seven suffered financial losses as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, businesses fell victim to fraud at higher rates than Canadian consumers, even though a majority felt confident that their business was well protected. The most common type of fraud perpetrated against businesses in Canada during that period was impersonator fraud, accounting for one quarter of all reported payment scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is impersonator fraud?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What makes this type of fraud so successful is that it impersonates a trusted source to avoid detection or scrutiny. Online fraudsters send emails, text messages, social media messages and even make phone calls alleging to be from a trusted business source, institution or organization, and request some type of payment or sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Competition Bureau and RCMP<\/a>, impersonator fraud is one of the fastest growing forms of fraud in the country. In 2024 the CAFC received more than 108,000 reports from more than 34,600 victims, who lost $638 million in online scams. In fact, Canadians have lost more than $2 billion to online fraud since 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How impersonator fraud works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Impersonator fraud can be highly effective and financially devastating because it exploits existing relationships with trusted sources, like suppliers, financial institutions, couriers, employees, clients, law enforcement and regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes a successful scam requires the fraudster to have pre-existing knowledge of their victim\u2019s regular business contacts, but often they seek to impersonate widely used institutions, contacts or services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often the communications will suggest there has been an unauthorized transaction, that an order was not received, that outstanding dues or taxes are outstanding, or that payment was sent to the wrong account. In almost all cases the fraudsters will seek to extract sensitive information\u2014such as passwords, social security information, or banking details\u2014or request direct payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scammers will also use artificial intelligence, data gathered from a previous hack or breach, or publicly available information to add credibility to those requests. They could also lead victims to \u201ccloned\u201d websites designed to look nearly identity to the falsely represented organization\u2019s legitimate website, or clone phone numbers and caller ID information to appear authentic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more: <\/strong>How to protect your business and employees from password fraud<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses are often targeted by two types of impersonator fraud: Business and vendor email compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business Email Compromise (BEC)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Business email compromise is a sophisticated scam<\/a> that seeks to take advantage of trusted, existing business relationships. These emails are highly targeted and hard to spot, as they aim to impersonate trusted leaders, such as a CEO, to trick employees into sharing sensitive data or transferring funds under pressure. In addition to CEO fraud, BEC can also happen through account compromise, which is when real email accounts are accessed via stolen passwords, or attorney impersonation, where fraudsters fake legal documentation to pressure employees to make payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vendor Email Compromise (VEC)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Similar to BEC, vendor email compromise involves cybercriminals impersonating or taking over the email account of a vendor. Posing as a trusted vendor, cybercriminals can issue invoices or billing documents to divert payment to their own bank accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Telltale signs: How to identify impersonator fraud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The best way to guard against impersonator fraud is awareness, caution and remaining on guard for some telltale signs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, fraudulent requests often rely on users acting before giving the situation too much thought, meaning that requests for money or information are often made to appear urgent, which is one of the signs to look out for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, requests for personal or sensitive information that has already been provided or seems unnecessary given the nature of your relationship with the institution or individual making the request should be approached with greater scrutiny.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, requests for payments or money transfers outside of the organization\u2019s existing payment relationship, such as payment to a new account or via a new payment portal, should also warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bank impersonation scams<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A bank impersonation scam may start out as a text, phone call or email that appears to be from a financial institution claiming there is an urgent issue with an account, like a security breach or unauthorized transition, or seeking out sensitive data. As an RBC client, we will never ask you for confidential banking details such as passwords, one-time passcodes or tokens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spot the signs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n