Recipients noticed what seemed like red flags as soon as they opened the emails from Service Canada, demanding repayment of pandemic benefits.
The government logo looked strange, or was broken. The text was grey, instead of the black typically used in official government correspondence. Some were written in French first, followed by English, which to many seemed unusual.
“You were paid more benefits than the amount for first you were eligible,” said one such email, seen by CBC News.
There was a link and a 1-800 number.
Some immediately dismissed it as another scam by fraudsters purporting to be from a government agency.
Some recipients discussed the emails online, on forums like Reddit, and mistakenly concluded they were part of the scam. (CBC)
On Twitter and Reddit, they said the formatting looked vastly different from government correspondence they’d received in the past. One wrote that the government logo looked “horrible,” as if it had been made with the no-frills app MS Paint.
Others thought it was suspicious to be contacted via email, rather than a secure message.
More than 100 people reported the emails to the national fraud watchdog.
But Service Canada says the emails are no hoax, and those who receive them really do have to pay up.
The agency uses the email address in question — EI-AE.ServiceCanada@canada.gc.ca — to contact people about employment insurance and emergency benefits. It has sent 26.2 million emails about the $2,000-per-month Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which the government launched in March 2020 for workers who were laid off or had their hours cut significantly during lockdowns.
It’s not clear how many variations of the repayment letter have gone out.
The recipient of this email, seen here on a cellphone’s nighttime mode, said on Reddit that it looked like it was created with MS Paint. (MTPROJECTS/Reddit)
Some emails seen by CBC News say recipients must repay a portion of their CERB, but don’t state how much.
Recipients are told to call a 1-800 number or click a link to share information “that could modify our decision and impact the amount you owe” within 30 days. After that, the email says, they will receive a letter in the mail detailing their debt and how to repay it.
Service Canada says 1.7 million Canadians have been or will be contacted about debts related to the $2,000 advance payments they received after applying for CERB, because they wound up being ineligible for the full amount.
The agency says people can verify its emails are legitimate by calling 1-800-622-6232.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it has received 166 reports about the emails since March 2020, which a spokesperson attributed to “large number of scams circulating, and [because] in some cases, it is difficult to know if the email is legitimate or not.”
Service Canada says 1.7 million Canadians have been or will be contacted about debt relating to advance payments of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. (Giordano Ciampini/The Canadian Press)
“I think individuals, given just how easy it is for them to be victimized, and all the steps that 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 spoof an email [address] — it looks like it’s from a particular individual but it’s not, and it’s relatively simple to do. And hackers and fraudsters know this.”
Kotak says Service Canada should reconsider whether email is the best way to contact people about repayments, when it could send secure messages or letters by mail instead.
“Clearly there are ways that the government can communicate in secure methods, and they should leverage 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 in line with government policies. The emails sent with French before English originated from its Quebec offices, the agency said.
Asked whether the agency would consider making changes to avoid such confusion, a spokesperson said: “We continuously review client feedback about all of our communications, and this feedback informs the way we exchange information with clients.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
