Canada has no rule making banks repay scams

Ralph Moore thought he’d found a safe place to grow his savings. In May 2025, a Qualicum Beach, British Columbia retiree encountered online media purportedly depicting Prime Minister Mark Carney endorsing a state-backed investment scheme. The video was a deepfake.

During the subsequent 10-month period, the 88-year-old transferred over $450,000 to scammers via online transactions and repeated in-person visits to his local TD Bank branch. The bank questioned some transactions, warned him scams and temporarily restricted his account. The bank never stepped in to stop the outgoing cash, and it hasn’t given him back a single penny.

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“They knew this was unusual behaviour,” his daughter, Leslie Herrndorf, told CBC’s Go Public.

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Moore’s loss is extreme. The hard truth: in Canada, if you’re scammed into sending the money, the loss is on you.

Who pays when a scam drains your bank account?

Who covers the loss after fraud? That depends on how the money left your account. If someone uses your credit or debit card credentials without permission, your liability is capped at $50 unless you were grossly negligent, according to a federal regulatory analysis published in June.

Beyond cards, protection thins out. According to the analysis, banks are legally permitted to place total liability on customers for unauthorized Interac e-Transfers, wire transfers and international funds transfers. They can also hold customers responsible for payments approved after being deceived, including investment scams.

That pattern shows up in a CBC Go Public investigation that heard from more than 30 victims. In almost every case, the bank put the blame squarely on the customer. TD declined to Moore’s case, citing client confidentiality.

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How big is the fraud problem for Canadians?

How widespread is this problem? Canadians reported $704 million in fraud losses to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) in 2025. That’s 300% more than in 2020, and the CAFC estimates only 5% to 10% of fraud is ever reported.

Age plays a factor. CAFC data cited by the Department of Finance shows Canadians under 50 are more likely to be targeted, but those over 50 lose more money.

And the complaints are climbing. The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), Canada’s independent complaints body for banks, opened 1,815 fraud investigations in 2025, which is nearly double the year before. Yet OBSI ombudsman Sarah Bradley told a Senate committee that only one in five of those cases ended with any recourse.

Would UK-style rules protect Canadians better?

Could a different set of rules actually move the needle? Starting in October 2024, U.K. banks were forced to reimburse scam victims by default, unless they can prove the customer acted with gross negligence. “That’s a very high threshold for the banks to prove,” says Alexandre Plourde, a lawyer with Option consommateurs, a Montreal consumer advocacy group.

Canadians appear to agree. In a Léger survey of 1,519 adults commissioned by Option consommateurs , 87% said banks should reimburse fraud victims unless they were grossly negligent.

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But the U.K. model has limits. Reimbursement is capped at roughly $160,000 per claim, according to Radio-Canada , which is well short of Moore’s loss. The Canadian Bankers Association told Go Public that simply saddling banks with the bill won’t stop fraudsters — and warned it could end up backfiring on everyday customers and the wider economy.

What is Ottawa changing — and when?

So what’s actually changing here? It’s not liability. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told CBC the government is developing a national anti-fraud strategy, but he didn’t commit to making banks pay.

Instead, the proposed regulatory framework would grant consumers greater account-level control, obligating banks to:

get your express consent before turning on e-Transfers, wires or global money transfers

let you switch those features off

wait until the business day to apply limit increases they can’t verify

report fraud data to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)

The rules are set to take effect July 1, 2027. Features already active on existing accounts won’t need fresh consent, so if you bank today, adjusting them is up to you.

Ask your bank what transfer features are active, then disable or cap limits on anything you don’t need.

Treat any investment pitch from a politician or celebrity video as a red flag

Talk to older relatives deepfakes, and set a ground rule to check in before any unusual transfer goes out

If you’ve been scammed, call your bank immediately, then report it to the CAFC and local police

Put your complaint in writing, as your bank has 56 days to respond before you can escalate to OBSI for free

Know OBSI’s limits: it can recommend up to $350,000 in compensation, but its recommendations aren’t binding on banks.

Until Ottawa decides who carries the cost of fraud, the strongest protection is the one you set up yourself. As Plourde puts it: “It’s time to act.”

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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.

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