Canadian securities regulators have dismantled more than 7,500 fraudulent investment and cryptocurrency websites as part of a coordinated national campaign to combat online financial crime. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) said the enforcement action took place between June 5, 2025, and February 12, 2026, involving 7,586 deactivated scam platforms tied to more than 13,000 URLs.Coordinated Effort Against Online FraudThe operation, announced during Fraud Prevention Month, reflects an expanded push to disrupt fraudulent activity targeting Canadian investors.Last year, Canada's national police closed unregistered platform TradeOgre and recovered more than CAD 56 million in digital assets, in what it was described as the largest crypto seizure in Canadian history. The Eastern Region’s Money Laundering Investigative Team began investigating the exchange in June 2024 after a Europol tip and later found that TradeOgre was not registered with FINTRAC and did not verify client identities.“Online investment scams continue to pose a serious risk to Canadians, and we are using a full range of regulatory and enforcement tools, including advanced technological capabilities, to proactively identify and disrupt fraudulent websites,” said Stan Magidson, Chair of the CSA and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission.The CSA said its members have strengthened cooperation with law enforcement and industry partners to identify scams faster and prevent investor losses. The regulator urged the public to check the registration of investment advisors and platforms using the CSA’s National Registration Search tool before investing.Ongoing Investor ProtectionStatistics on deactivated websites will be included in the CSA’s Year in Review report starting in 2026. Investors who suspect fraud are encouraged to contact their local securities regulator.Miles away from individual enforcement actions, Singapore is the worst hit by cyber‑enabled fraud, with scam cases jumping 61% over two years, according to recent findings by the Financial Action Task Force. The global watchdog now treats cyber‑enabled fraud as one of the most widespread profit‑driven crimes worldwide and a core driver of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks, as rapid digitalization, new payment rails and virtual assets enable criminals to move illicit funds across borders at scale.FATF notes that 156 jurisdictions, or roughly 90% of those it assessed, now classify fraud as a major money laundering threat. National data underscores how quickly the threat has escalated: alongside Singapore’s spike, fraud now accounts for more than 40% of all recorded crime in the United Kingdom, highlighting how online scams have shifted from isolated cases to a systemic challenge for law enforcement and financial regulators. This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.

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