Recipients noticed what appeared to be red flags as soon as they opened the emails from Service Canada demanding the return of pandemic benefits.
The government logo looked weird or was broken. The text was gray instead of the black usually used in official government correspondence. Some were written first in French, followed by English, which seemed unusual to many.
“You were being paid more benefits than the amount you were originally eligible for,” said one such email seen by CBC News.
There was a link and a 1-800 number.
Some immediately dismissed it as just another scam by scammers posing as a government agency.
Others discussed the emails online, recounting attempts to get direct responses from Office 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 concluded they were part of a scam. (CBC)
On Twitter and Reddit, they said the formatting looked significantly different from government correspondence they had received in the past. One wrote that the government logo looked “terrible” as if it had been made with the no-nonsense MS Paint app.
Others find it suspicious to contact them via email rather than a secure message.
More than 100 people have reported the emails to the national fraud watchdog.
But Service Canada says the emails are not a scam and those receiving them should indeed pay.
The agency uses the email address in question — EI-AE.ServiceCanada@canada.gc.ca — to contact people about employment insurance and emergency benefits. He sent 26.2 million emails about the $2,000-a-month Canada Emergency Response 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 repayment letter have gone out.
The recipient of this email, seen here in night mode on a cellphone, said on Reddit that it appears to have been created with MS Paint. (MTPROJECTS/Reddit)
Some emails seen by CBC News say recipients must repay a portion of their CERB, but did not say how much.
Recipients are told to call 1-800 or click on a link to share information “that could change our decision and affect the amount you owe” within 30 days. Then, the email said, they will receive a letter in the mail detailing their debt and how to pay it off.
Service Canada says 1.7 million Canadians have been or will be sued for debts related to the $2,000 advance payments they received after applying for the CERB because they turned out to be ineligible for the full amount.
The agency says people can confirm its emails are legitimate by calling 1-800-622-6232.
Canada’s Anti-Fraud Center says it has received 166 reports of the emails since March 2020, which a spokesperson attributed to “a large number of circulating scams and [because] in some cases it is difficult to know whether an email is legitimate or not.”
Service Canada says 1.7 million Canadians have been or will be contacted about debt related to Canada Emergency Response Benefit advances. (Giordano Ciampini/The Canadian Press)
It’s good to stay alert
One expert says Canadians should be especially vigilant about any emails that demand payment, given how many sophisticated scams are operating in Canada, including multiple scams involving CERB and Service Canada payouts.
“I think people, given how easy it is for them to be victims and all the steps they have to go through [if their accounts are compromised] are overly cautious in some cases,” said Ritesh Kotak, a cybersecurity expert in Toronto.
“Anyone can change an email [address] — looks like it’s from a specific individual, but it’s not, and it’s relatively easy to do. And hackers and scammers know this.”
Kotak says Service Canada needs to rethink whether email is the best way to contact people about payouts when it can send secure messages or letters by post instead.
“There are clearly 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 informed by privacy, legal and communications experts and were consistent with government policies. The emails, sent in French before English, originated from her offices in Quebec, the agency said.
Asked whether the agency would consider making changes to avoid such confusion, a spokesman said: “We continually review customer feedback on all of our communications, and that feedback informs how we communicate with customers.”
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