The government logo looked weird or was broken. The text was grey, rather than the black usually used in official government correspondence. Some were written in French first, followed by English, which many found unusual. “You have been paid more benefits than the amount you were entitled to,” said one such email, seen by CBC News. There was a link and a 1-800 number. Some immediately dismissed it as another scam by scammers purporting to be from a government agency. Others discussed the emails online, citing efforts to get straight answers from Service Canada. One recipient claimed an agent hung up on them when they called to inquire. Some recipients discussed the emails online, on forums like Reddit, and mistakenly assumed they were part of the scam. (CBC) On Twitter and Reddit, they said the formatting looked very different from government mail they had received in the past. One wrote that the government’s logo looked “horrible”, as if it had been made with the MS Paint application without any frills. Others thought it was suspicious to contact them via email, instead of a secure message. More than 100 people reported the emails to the national fraud watchdog. But Service Canada says the emails are not a hoax and those who receive them really do have to pay up. The agency uses that email address — [email protected] — to contact people about employment insurance and emergency benefits. It has sent 26.2 million emails about the $2,000-a-month Canada Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB), which the government launched in March 2020 for workers who were laid off or had their hours significantly reduced during the lockdown . It is not clear how many variations of the payoff letter have been deleted. The recipient of this email, shown here in mobile night mode, said on Reddit that it looked like it was created with MS Paint. (MTPROJECTS/Reddit) Some emails seen by CBC News say recipients must return a portion of their CERB, but don’t say how much. Recipients are asked to call a 1-800 number or click a link to share information “that could change our decision and affect the amount you owe” within 30 days. After that, the email says, they’ll get a letter in the mail detailing their debt and how to pay it off. Service Canada says 1.7 million Canadians have or will be notified of debt related to the $2,000 advances they received after applying for CERB because they don’t qualify for the full amount. The agency says people can verify its emails are legitimate by calling 1-800-622-6232. The Canadian Fraud Center says it has received 166 reports about the emails since March 2020, which a spokesperson attributed to “a large number of scams circulating and [because] In some cases, it’s hard to know if the email is legitimate or not.” Service Canada says 1.7 million Canadians have or will be notified of debt related to Canada Emergency Response Benefit advances. (Giordano Ciampini/The Canadian Press)
Better be alert
An expert says Canadians should be especially wary of any emails demanding payment, given the number of sophisticated scams operating in Canada, including multiple scams involving CERB and Service Canada payments. “I think people, given how easy it is to fall prey to and all the steps they have to go through [if their accounts are compromised] they are overly cautious in some cases,” said Ritesh Kotak, a cybersecurity expert in Toronto. “Anyone can spoof an email [address] — looks like it’s from a specific person, but it’s not, and it’s relatively simple to do. And hackers and fraudsters know this.” Kotak says Service Canada should review whether email is the best way to communicate with people about payments when it could send secure messages or letters through the mail. “Clearly there are ways that the government can communicate in secure methods and they should take advantage of that.” In a statement, a Service Canada spokesperson said the content and format of its emails were reviewed by privacy, legal and communications experts and were consistent with government policies. The emails sent in French before English came from her offices in Quebec, the agency said. Asked if the company would consider making changes to avoid such confusion, a spokesperson said: “We constantly review customer feedback on all of our communications, and that feedback informs how we share information with customers.”
