How to Report Bitcoin or Crypto Fraud in Quebec: Immediate Steps

Fraud can happen to anyone. Acting quickly can protect remaining accounts and preserve options, but no report or tracing service can guarantee recovery. This guide gives Quebec residents a practical route to the appropriate official organizations.

What to do in the first 30 minutes

1. Stop the loss. Do not send another payment, fee, tax, deposit or “verification” transfer. End remote-control access and stop communicating with the suspected fraudster.
2. Use a trusted device. If someone controlled or may still control your device, use a different device to contact providers and change credentials.
3. Contact the institution or platform that handled the transfer. Use independently verified contact information. Ask it to secure your account, stop any pending transaction it can still control, preserve its records and flag the destination account or address. Provide the transaction ID and account reference if requested through its official channel.
4. Preserve evidence. Save original messages, receipts, transaction records and a chronological account of what happened. Do not delay urgent provider calls while making a perfect file.
5. Report the loss. Contact your police service of jurisdiction and obtain a file number, then report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Notify the AMF when the matter concerns an investment or financial platform.

Who to contact in Quebec

Bank, card issuer, exchange or wallet provider

The first provider call is time-sensitive. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s victim guidance says to report the incident to the financial institution that transferred the money. Use a telephone number or support path from the provider’s official app, account statement or website. Do not use a search advertisement or a link sent by the suspected fraudster.

A custodial exchange or wallet provider may be able to lock an account, stop a transaction that is still pending within its system, preserve account records or flag assets under its control. A non-custodial wallet operator cannot reverse a confirmed Bitcoin transaction or take control of a wallet whose keys only you hold.

Local police, the SQ and the RCMP

Report a loss to the police service that serves your city or region. Quebec provides an official guide to filing a police complaint and a directory of Quebec police services. Residents of SQ-served territory can also consult the SQ’s fraud-prevention and complaint guidance. In Montreal, use the SPVM contact route; its general online minor-incident report is not a substitute for speaking to police when a fraud file has a suspect, witness or evidence.

The RCMP is not a separate routine reporting step for a Quebec victim unless it is the relevant police service or another authority directs you there. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s national reporting system supports law-enforcement intelligence; your local police service receives the victim’s criminal complaint and can investigate.

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Victims and witnesses can use the CAFC online reporting route, including an anonymous option, or call 1-888-495-8501. The CAFC collects fraud and cybercrime information and shares intelligence that may connect related cases. A CAFC report does not replace a local police report when money or personal information was lost.

AMF and possible compensation

The AMF can assist when a financial fraud involves a purported investment, promised returns, an adviser, a financial intermediary or a cryptoasset trading platform. Start with the AMF’s victim guidance and cryptoasset-fraud guidance. Its Quebec City number is 418-525-0337, Montreal number is 514-395-0337 and toll-free number is 1-877-525-0337.

Cryptoasset transactions are not covered by deposit protection. Separately, the Fonds d’indemnisation des services financiers may compensate qualifying fraud committed by a covered AMF-authorized financial intermediary. Eligibility is case-specific. The AMF states that a claim generally must be filed within one year after the victim becomes aware of the fraud, although exceptions may apply. Contact the AMF promptly rather than assuming that a loss is covered or excluded.

Before using a trading platform, check the AMF’s current cryptoasset trading-platform register. Registration does not eliminate fraud, custody, liquidity or market risk. FINTRAC registration is a separate anti-money-laundering requirement; the FINTRAC Money Services Business Registry explicitly says registration is not an endorsement or licence.

Evidence to preserve

Keep originals where possible and make a protected copy. Do not crop or edit the only copy. A transaction ID shows that an on-chain transaction occurred; by itself it does not prove fraud, ownership or the real-world identity of the recipient.

• A chronological account with exact dates, local times and time zone.
• The asset, network, amount, Canadian-dollar value shown at the time, sending and destination addresses, transaction ID, exchange order ID and bank or card reference.
• Original emails with full headers, exported chat histories, text messages, social-media profiles, usernames, telephone numbers, call logs and saved voicemails.
• Website addresses, advertisements, contracts, account statements, receipts, QR codes and screenshots showing the full page and address bar.
• The names of remote-access applications, the time access was granted and any files or identity documents shared.
• Every police, CAFC, AMF, bank and platform report number, plus the date and channel used.

Do not revisit a malicious link merely to collect more evidence. Do not publicly post identity documents, account records, wallet addresses or transaction IDs. Share sensitive material only through an independently verified official submission channel and provide only what the recipient needs.

Protect accounts, devices and personal information

• From a different trusted device, change the passwords for email, financial, exchange and social accounts. Use unique passwords, enable multi-factor authentication and revoke unfamiliar sessions or API keys.
• Never disclose a wallet seed phrase, private key, account password, PIN or multi-factor code. Police, regulators and legitimate support staff do not need a seed phrase to receive a transaction ID or fraud report.
• If a seed phrase or private key was exposed, treat that self-custody wallet as compromised. Seek qualified, independently verified security help before taking further action, and never follow transfer instructions from someone offering recovery.
• If identity information was exposed, notify affected issuers and service providers, monitor financial accounts and credit files, and ask the credit bureaus about fraud alerts. See the Government of Canada’s data-breach guidance.
• Do not factory-reset, wipe or discard a possibly compromised device before asking police or qualified incident-response support whether it should be preserved as evidence. Keep it disconnected if that can be done safely and use another device for account recovery.

Bitcoin transaction finality and recovery

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada explains that confirmed cryptoasset transactions are not reversible. A confirmed Bitcoin transaction normally cannot be cancelled or charged back. A wallet provider cannot rewrite the blockchain, and a bank may not treat a purchase or transfer that the customer authorized as an unauthorized transaction.

That does not make every case hopeless. Prompt reporting may help a custodian secure assets under its control or allow investigators to seek information, restraint or seizure through legal process. Courts issue legal orders; providers and investigators act within their respective authority. Tracing does not guarantee identification, seizure or return of funds.

Fraud victims are frequently targeted again. Never pay an advance fee, tax, bond, deposit or “unlocking” charge to a person claiming to recover cryptoassets. Verify any contact by finding the organization’s official details independently and update police, CAFC and the relevant financial provider about new approaches.

Reporting checklist

• Urgent safety assessed; 911 called only for immediate danger or crime in progress.
• Further payments and communication stopped.
• Financial institution and relevant custodial platform contacted through verified details.
• Passwords changed from a trusted device; sessions and API keys reviewed.
• Original evidence and transaction details preserved securely.
• Local police report filed and file number retained.
• CAFC report filed and confirmation retained.
• AMF contacted if an investment, adviser, intermediary or trading platform was involved.
• No seed phrase, private key, password or multi-factor code disclosed.

Official services in French

Pour obtenir les démarches officielles en français, consultez Que faire si vous êtes victime de fraude, Signaler les cas de fraude et de cybercriminalité, la page de l’AMF Victime d’une fraude et le service Québec.ca Trouver un service de police.

Editorial follow-up: publish a fully reviewed French counterpart with equivalent content and reciprocal en-CA/fr-CA hreflang. This deployment deliberately does not create or guess a translation relationship.

Legal and service notice

This page provides general information current to August 29, 2026. It is not legal, investment, tax or cybersecurity advice. Procedures, contact hours, legal remedies, limitation periods and compensation eligibility can change. Reporting does not guarantee an investigation, recovery or compensation. D-Central is not a police service, regulator, law firm or asset-recovery service and should not receive seed phrases, private keys, passwords, multi-factor codes or a victim’s evidence file. For significant losses or possible civil proceedings, seek advice promptly from a qualified Quebec legal professional; deadlines may continue to run while other reports or claims are processed.

Official sources

• Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: What to do if you are a victim of fraud
• Gouvernement du Québec: How to file a police complaint
• AMF: You are a victim of fraud
• AMF: Fonds d’indemnisation des services financiers
• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Cryptoassets

Reviewed: August 29, 2026. Recheck official links, contact hours and AMF compensation rules at least quarterly and after any announced process change.

Frequently asked questions