Anyone can become a victim of a scam or fraud, regardless of age, education level, income, language ability, or immigration status. However, newcomers can be particularly vulnerable. After arrival, newcomers are often seeking immigration information and assistance, employment, and financial services. During this transition, they might be unfamiliar with Canadian government processes and institutions, as well as with their rights in Canada. This creates vulnerabilities that scammers can exploit. Understanding how scams and frauds target newcomers is essential for settlement workers to best support their clients.

AMSSA’s May 2026 Town Hall on Scams and Frauds Affecting Newcomers provided settlement practitioners with information on this topic and provided a forum for settlement workers to share their own experiences about clients facing these schemes.
This guide is a result of these discussions and delve more into areas participants felt settlement practitioners would find useful in their work.

Focused on the most relevant scams and frauds affecting newcomers, this guide provides information on how each type of scheme works and how they can specifically target newcomers. This guide also offers steps for supporting newcomer clients if they fall victim to scams/frauds, including how to support their reporting of an incident.

Learn more by downloading the Common Scams & Frauds Affecting Newcomers guide here.

Through the Town Hall, AMSSA has also created a guide on Artificial Intelligence’s Emerging Role in Scams and Frauds found on this page.