Retired teacher Lynn Phaneuf said he and his wife typically only use their smart TV in their living room in Prince Albert, Sask. Go home and watch the news.
When Phaneuf, 70 years old, saw what is called When CBC host Rosemary Barton was speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney about federally supported crypto investment opportunities, he thought he was watching a legitimate show on the CBC streaming platform.
“As I’ve been working with Mark Carney to try to get housing built, I thought this might be a good initiative for Canadians,” Phaneuf said.
The segment, which does not air on CBC’s platforms, was a fraudulent video created using artificial intelligence, using AI to impersonate the Kearney, Burton and CBC brands to direct people to investment companies that were flagged by the Manitoba Securities Commission in June 2025.
Phaneuf said he became suspicious over several weeks of dealing with the scammer and ended up losing $2,800. But despite about $800 in profits being deposited into his Canadian bank account, the involvement of a legitimate cryptocurrency site in the scheme, the expertise of his so-called financial advisor, and a confusing phone call from RBC, he said he always felt secure enough to continue.
“I always use the analogy of being lost in the bush. Once you’re lost, you stop believing in what you should believe in.”
The Saskatchewan Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority announced it will begin tracking reported losses due to cryptocurrency fraud in the province in 2024, and as of early November 2025, losses totaled $1.3 million.
In Canada, reported losses totaled more than $388 million between January 2024 and September 2025, according to the Canadian Fraud Prevention Center. Both agencies say only an estimated 5-10% of victims report fraud.
Companies are ‘familiar’ with AI-generated ads
Mathieu Lavigne, head of analysis at the Media Ecosystem Observatory, a Canada-based research effort that monitors and analyzes online harm, said deepfakes and AI-generated videos like the one Phaneuf encountered are a known problem for social media companies.
But both companies are essentially taking a “reactive” approach, he said.
“They’re basically just removing individual pages and ads that are flagged.”
He said regulations on advertising on social media are much looser than those on traditional broadcasting.
Lavigne said companies like Facebook-owned Meta rely on ad buyers self-reporting AI abuse and do not require identity verification before creating pages, even pages that run financial ads.
“Now, anyone in the world can create a page and immediately start buying ads that attempt to deceive Canadians.”
The problem is widespread, he said. His team identified more than 200 pages on the Meta platform that contained ads like the one Phaneuf encountered. One video was seen by more than 100,000 Canadians.
He said information from Meta’s ad library shows that more vulnerable Canadians, such as the elderly, are often targeted.
scam
The fake segment directed Phaneuf to a website called TW Pro, which he said then suddenly became PlusTW. The site displayed stock and trading information for well-known companies such as Apple, as well as cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dash. Phaneuf said he was able to match that information with stock exchanges in real time.
After retirement, he had time and support from the prime minister, so he thought investing might be interesting and fun.
“I wasn’t trying to make a lot of money off of it. I didn’t need a lot of money. I just thought, ‘Oh, I should try this,'” he said.
After he created an account, a series of self-proclaimed financial advisors began calling him from Canadian numbers. One of them mentioned the name of a real financial advisor based in Toronto.
His first investment was $365, which he paid with a credit card. After being on the phone with someone for 10 minutes, he made a profit.
“The revenue wasn’t huge, but we made money every time,” he said.
Once he confirms that he can withdraw the money, He decides to invest $3,000, an amount he can afford to lose. That was the limit he set for himself on investment projects.
Unclear call from red blood cells
The site asked him to send the money using electronic funds transfer through crypto.com, a Singapore-based company registered to do business in Canada through the Canadian Securities Administrators. This move involved his bank.
“RBC called me and said, ‘Are you sure you can do this?'” Phaneuf said.
Phaneuf said fraud is common in cryptocurrencies, but when asked if RBC had any issues with a particular company called crypto.com, a representative said no.
“He didn’t give me an answer. Is this okay or not?”
The call lasted 5 minutes.
In a statement to CBC, RBC said it would not comment specifically on Mr. Phaneuf’s case, citing customer privacy, but said the company has been in direct contact with Mr. Phaneuf about the situation.
“We recognize that we have an important role to play in protecting our customers from fraudsters and educating Canadians to remain vigilant in an ever-evolving threat landscape,” the statement said.
c public relations officerripto.com He told CBC that the company is “not affiliated” with PlusTW or Pro TW “in any way.”
pressure to invest
Phaneuf said pressure to invest is increasing. When he resisted, the financial advisor had difficulty answering the phone. He said when he tried to withdraw money, “the phone went dead.” Requests to close his account were similarly ignored.
Typically, he said, he can spot scams and avoid things like fake emails and phishing scams.
“I was pissed because I fell for this hook, line and sinker.”
Phaneuf said she reported the loss to Prince Albert Police, but received a call saying they would not pursue it even though they classified it as stolen. He was told there was no need to submit a witness statement.
When CBC reached out to Prince Albert Police for comment, a spokesperson said they had determined Phaneuf’s case “needs further attention” and had reopened the file.
“After reviewing the file, we have determined that the initial assessment did not meet the standards of service we expect,” Chief Patrick Nogier said.
Asked about the police’s ability to deal with cybercrime, Nogier said: “We need to be upfront.”
“We don’t have the capacity or the expertise.”
Nogier said cases involving cybercrime are often beyond the capabilities of a medium-sized police force like Prince Albert.
He said the initial assessment of Phaneuf’s case was “concerning” given that cybercrime often goes unreported.
Geoff Horncastle, outreach officer with the Canadian Fraud Prevention Center, said victims of fraud should file a report with both local police and the Fraud Prevention Centre. This is a separate reporting process.
He said scams are “hugely under-reported” for multiple reasons, including victims being confused about where to go and difficult to report to police.
Learn about scams
Phaneuf’s wife asked him to take a cybersecurity course through the University of Saskatchewan’s continuing studies program in the fall.
While attending the virtual course, he heard common stories of scammers taking the time to gain the victim’s trust over the phone, returning some money to get the victim to invest further, and then disappearing with the money.
“Maybe they were just pointing at me.”
Phaneuf did not tell her teacher, Natalia Stakhanova, Canada Research Chair in Security and Privacy, about her experience, but Stakhanova said other seniors in her class mentioned falling victim to AI-based scams.
“Many people are not aware of the advances in AI these days, but its capabilities are evolving every day,” Stakhanova said.
“Criminals are getting more and more creative.”
She says scams are now more sophisticated and more believable than what “we’re used to seeing.”
Experts say education is key to combating new forms of fraud.
All individuals and companies dealing in financial securities must register with the Canadian Securities Administrators and can be searched there.
Phaneuf’s advice is to keep your bank account information away from people asking for money on the internet.
“Please don’t spend any money on it because there’s a good chance you’ll never see it again.”
