CBC

Toronto couple charged after defrauding hundreds of Canadians out of millions of dollars: police
Police say the pair posed as bank, government or police employees to trick victims

A Toronto couple is facing charges after allegedly defrauding hundreds of Canadians out of millions of dollars.

The RCMP alleged in a news release on Thursday that the pair used technology to hide their phone number in order to pose as bank, government or police employees and trick people into handing over money.

Police said the suspects, who are 29 and 31, used a spoofing website to make phone calls while displaying a false caller ID.

The RCMP alleged that the two people were among the "most active" subscribers to iSpoof.cc, a website that was used by subscribers around the world to make unauthorized phone calls while displaying a caller ID falsely indicating that they were legitimate callers. The website had as many as 38,000 subscribers.

"This particular technology allowed criminals to purchase a subscription in order to use the service to impersonate trusted corporations," RCMP said in the release.

RCMP said they searched the couple's home and seized a "trove" of items, including electronic devices.

Police said at least 570 people were defrauded, though that number may increase after the devices seized in the search are analyzed.

According to the RCMP, the couple allegedly used a variety of different spoofing, phishing and smishing schemes to target their victims.

The pair have been charged with fraud, unauthorized use of a computer, laundering the proceeds of crime, unauthorized possession of credit card data and possessing the proceeds of crime.

The accused were arrested on Wednesday and remanded to Maplehurst Correctional Complex and Vanier Centre for Women and will appear remotely in a Toronto courtroom on Feb. 21.

Spoofing allegedly used on a 'global scale,' RCMP says
Insp. Lina Dabit, the officer in charge of the Cybercrime Investigative Team Toronto for Ontario RCMP, said at a news conference on Thursday that RCMP officers arrested the two after receiving information from the London Metropolitan Police in the U.K. as part of Operation Elaborate, an investigation involving several police forces.

Operation Elaborate was led by the London Metropolitan Police with the help of Dutch National Police and Europol.

The RCMP alleges that the two were using spoofing technology "on a global scale," Dabit said.

"Evidence indicates that the scale of their operation was enormous," Dabit said at a news conference on Thursday. "We allege that these individuals are responsible for millions of dollars lost to victims across Canada."

"Further, we suspect that nearly every bank in Canada has been a victim of these suspects as well as many of their clients."

Dabit said cybercriminals use spoofing to mislead victims to convince them that they are speaking with someone they can trust.

"This will often lead to victims letting their guard down and divulging sensitive information."

Last year, Canadians lost $638 million to fraud, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

"These losses have had and continue to have devastating impacts on Canadian families who may end losing a lifetime of savings," Dabit said.
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With files from CBC News

New public housing units in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T. expected to welcome tenants next month
One of the duplexes includes two-bedroom units for seniors from the community

The long public housing waiting list in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T. is expected to get a little shorter next month, as multiple units will soon welcome tenants.

The community has three new buildings, with each designed to accomodate a different group in need of housing. One duplex, which includes two bachelor units, is for single people. Another duplex with two two-bedroom units is for seniors. A third building with two multi-bedroom units will be for families.

CBC News joined for a tour of the three new buildings.

Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon Armstrong said she's happy to see the units so close to welcoming tenants, but more are needed.

"Right now, we're in crisis, we need more houses, not just in Behchokǫ̀, but in Whatì, Gamètì and Wekweètì as well," she said.

A house pictured on a winter day.
A public housing building in Behchokǫ̀ pictured in February 2025. (Luke Carrol/CBC)
The units will go to those at the top of the public housing waiting list, a list that is determined through a point-based system.

"People who apply, it depends on what situation they are in," said Lillian Erasmus, the housing manager for Behchokǫ̀ Ko Gha K'aodee, the local public housing authority.

She said the community's waiting list, which includes somewhere around 160 to 180 people — or 135 families, according to the N.W.T. housing minister — has been growing in recent years.

Two woman in a room stare ahead.
Lillian Erasmus, right, housing manager for Behchokǫ̀ Ko Gha K'aodee, and Charlene Erasmus, secretary for Behchokǫ̀ Ko Gha K'aodee. (Luke Carroll/CBC)
"Young adults are getting of age, so they want to move out of their families house," Erasmus said.

Seniors gave feedback on design
For the seniors' units, Bronwyn Rorke, Housing NWT's manager of capital planning and design, said seniors were engaged to provide feedback that could be incorporated in the design of the building.

"Making sure that the kitchens were large, making sure that there's storage space because seniors kind of struggle to do constant kind of shopping," she said.

These units were also designed with enough space to accommodate ramps in case the tenant is in need of a wheelchair.

A microwave.
A new public housing unit in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T. on Feb. 21, 2025. The unit is designed for elders and has the appliances, like the microwave, low down so it is more easily accessible if the tenant is in a wheelchair. (Luke Carroll/CBC)
Territorial Housing Minister Lucy Kuptana says the seniors and the bachelor units were a collaboration between Housing NWT and the Tłı̨chǫ Investment Corporation.

"Anytime there's development in the region, we reach out and see if there's any opportunities to partner and look at development opportunities within the community," she said.

Kuptana says she knows the community needs more houses, but that she is happy to see the progress.

She also credited Weyallon Armstrong for her dedication to bring more housing to her constituents.

"She advocates and she really pushes housing hard," Kuptana said.

The modular units arrived by road in late July and were assembled throughout the fall. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Feb. 21, and both Kuptana and the Erasmus say they expect the units to house tenants in about the next month.

A woman standing before a home on a winter day smiles.
Jane Weyallon Armstrong, MLA for Monfwi, is pictured outside a public housing unit in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T. in February 2025. Weyallon Armstrong says the units are great, but that her region needs more housing as the situation is a "crisis." (Luke Carroll/CBC)