Reporting Cybercrime
If you experience cybercrime, fraud, or a scam, report it to:
- Your local police
- The National Cybercrime Coordination Centre (NC3) and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC)
- Online Reporting System
- Phone: 1-888-495-8501
Even if you weren’t a victim, but encountered cybercrime or a scam, you should still report it to the CAFC.
Your reports help law enforcement track trends, link cases, and combat cybercrime.
For organizations and IT security teams
Critical infrastructure, government departments, and IT security practitioners should also report cyber incidents to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security.
This helps protect systems important to Canada and improves national cyber defence.
For spam
Report spam and electronic threats to the Spam Reporting Centre to support enforcement of Canada’s anti-spam laws.
What Is Cybercrime?
Cybercrime includes any crime where technology plays a major role.
Two main types:
1. Crimes targeting technology
Examples:
- Ransomware
- Malware
- Hacking
- Denial of Service
- Supply chain attacks
- Botnets
- Advanced persistent threats
These crimes often aim to make money, steal information, damage systems, or support espionage.
They are the focus of the RCMP Federal Policing Cybercrime Program and NC3.
2. Crimes committed using technology
Examples:
- Fraud
- Identity theft
- Intellectual property offences
- Money laundering
- Drug or human trafficking
- Organized crime
- Terrorism
- Child sexual exploitation
- Cyberbullying
These fall under various RCMP programs and services.
Key Terms
Malware – Software designed to damage systems or allow unauthorized access.
Ransomware – Malware that locks systems or data until payment is made.
Botnet – A network of infected devices controlled remotely for criminal activity.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) – Overloading a system with traffic to shut it down.
Supply Chain Compromise – Attacking organizations through their trusted suppliers.
Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) – Long-term, undetected access to a network.
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