Report: Money laundering and fraud in Canada

Canadians are losing millions of dollars to money laundering and fraud every year.

We're releasing this report publicly to raise awareness about the nature and extent of money laundering and fraud threats in Canada.

For a copy of the full report, please contact us at CISC_Tasking@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

Highlights of the report

The majority of organized crime groups and other criminals disguise their proceeds of crime
- We assessed 176 organized crime groups in 2019 that police reported to be involved in money laundering activities, but we believe the actual number to be higher
Approximately 50% of the 176 Canadian organized crime groups involved with money laundering maintain international links
- Almost half of the groups with international links are involved in the cocaine market
Criminals commonly use cryptocurrencies as a way to pay for mass-marketing fraud and dark web marketplace purchases.
- They're also an attractive tool for laundering proceeds of crime
Over the past two years, the federal government and a number of provincial counterparts have implemented legislative changes to strengthen anti-money laundering regimes

The financial damages of fraud:
- are felt by people who sometimes lose their life savings
- represent lost tax revenue for the government
- can lead to additional strain placed on government social services
Some fraudulent schemes collect sensitive personal information in addition to money
- This can be used to commit other crimes, such as identity theft
Some examples:
- Government services schemes
- Identity theft and phishing
- Romance scams
- Ransomware schemes
- Elder-targeted scams
- Securities fraud
- Payment card fraud
- Real estate fraud
Many victims are embarrassed and don't report it
Financial crime, often seen as "white collar" crime, is committed by highly capable criminals and interconnected organized crime groups, both in Canada and abroad
Some Canadian organized crime groups are directly involved in running boiler rooms (telemarketing centres used in fraud
- Others collect a portion of profits
- They use the profits to fund other criminal activity, like importing and trafficking drugs