Canadian Regulators Say More Than 7,500 Fraudulent Investment and Crypto Websites Were Taken Down

Canadian securities regulators have released updated enforcement figures showing the scale of online investment fraud now being targeted across the country. According to the Canadian Securities Administrators, more than 7,586 fake investment platforms and crypto scam websites aimed at Canadians were deactivated between June 5, 2025, and February 12, 2026. The effort covered more than 13,000 individual URLs linked to those sites.

The numbers were published on March 3 as part of Fraud Prevention Month. The CSA said the campaign reflects a broader push to identify suspicious sites earlier and disrupt them before they can draw in more victims. Stan Magidson, who chairs the CSA and also leads the Alberta Securities Commission, said regulators are using both enforcement measures and technology-based tools to track and shut down fraudulent websites.

Website Takedowns Are Becoming a Larger Part of Enforcement

The latest release shows a sharp increase from the CSAs earlier update in December 2025, when regulators said a newer enforcement capability had helped disarm more than 3,900 fraudulent investment websites. The new figure suggests the campaign expanded significantly over the following two months, both in the number of sites affected and in the total volume of related web links tied to those operations.

Rather than focusing only on individual bad actors after losses occur, regulators appear to be putting more weight on disruption at the infrastructure level. In practice, that means cutting off access to websites that present fake investment offers, impersonate trading platforms, or use crypto-related narratives to attract deposits from retail users. The CSA did not frame the initiative as a one-off action, and said website deactivation figures will be added to its annual Year in Reviewpublication starting in 2026.

Investment Fraud and Crypto Scams Remain a Shared Regulatory Concern

In its statement, the CSA described online investment fraud as an ongoing risk for Canadians and said securities regulators have increased coordination across sectors over the past year. The group also pointed to cooperation with law enforcement, regulatory partners, and industry bodies as part of the broader response to fraudulent online activity.

That matters because many scam sites no longer operate like crude, short-lived pages. They often imitate legitimate investment brands, use polished interfaces, and move quickly across domains or mirror pages when pressure builds. The CSA‘s latest figures suggest regulators are trying to keep pace by treating online fraud as a cross-platform enforcement problem rather than a series of isolated cases. This reading is based on the CSA’s description of coordinated, cross-sector efforts and its emphasis on large-scale site disruption.

Registration Checks Remain a Central Investor Safeguard

Alongside the takedown update, the CSA again urged investors to verify the registration status of anyone offering investments or investment advice. The regulator specifically pointed users to its National Registration Search, which can be used to check whether a person or firm is properly registered.

That reminder is consistent with how many investment scams are structured. A website may look active, professional, and geographically relevant, yet still have no legal standing to offer securities-related services. For retail investors, a registration check remains one of the fastest ways to screen out entities that are presenting themselves as licensed without actually appearing in the official record. The CSA also advised anyone who believes they have been approached by a fraudulent investment operation, or may already be a victim, to contact their local securities regulator.

A Wider Campaign Against Online Financial Fraud

The latest release does not suggest the problem is shrinking. If anything, the jump from more than 3,900 deactivated websites in December to more than 7,586 by mid-February points to the scale and persistence of fraudulent online investment activity targeting Canadians. It also shows how closely investment scams and crypto-themed fraud now overlap in enforcement work.

For the market, the announcement is less about a single enforcement action and more about the shape of the current threat environment: large volumes of disposable domains, fast-moving scam infrastructure, and a regulatory response increasingly built around rapid detection and takedown. The CSAs decision to start publishing website deactivation statistics in its annual review suggests this has become a standing part of how Canadian regulators measure anti-fraud activity.

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