Montrealers began to use credit in 1940, and by 1944, the Montréal police force had already set up a fraud section that boasted 26 investigators until 1963.

Tackling general fraud, financial fraud and arson, the Division des crimes économiques et de propriété (DCEP) now has 70 investigators, officers and civilian employees.

Most common fraud: identity fraud

The Section des fraudes générales handles about 6,000 complaints a year. These include some 1,200 cases of identity fraud. Bill S-4 recently established two different types of infractions related to identity:

1) The illegal possession of identifying or identity documents, such as a driver's license, that belong to someone else. This infraction is now called "identity theft."

2) Identity fraud (formerly called "personation") consists of using another person's identity to commit fraud or to identify oneself under police questioning following an infraction of the Highway Safety Code or the Criminal Code.

The vast majority of fraud cases each year involve payment cards. According to the Association of Canadian Bankers, payment card fraud leads to annual losses of over $500 million in Canada. In 2010 alone, the SPVM Section des fraudes broke up five credit and debit card manufacturing labs.

Recently, through Project Flash Back, investigators seized materials that would have allowed the defrauders to misappropriate up to $40 million. The confiscated computer equipment contained over 40,000 credit and debit card numbers, representing potential fraud of $1000 per card.

Other types of general fraud

Fake lotteries: The defrauders contact you by phone, email or internet and convince you that you have won a lottery and that all you have to do is pay the taxes or administrative fees to receive your prize. They ask you to send the money to an address that is often abroad. Of course, you never receive your prize.

Phony cheques: The defrauder phones to say that a cheque has been sent to you by mistake. To compensate you for the trouble of returning the money, the defrauder authorizes you to deposit the cheque in your account and keep a small sum for yourself. You return the rest of the money to the defrauder, but the cheque bounces a couple of weeks later and you lose the money you sent.

Qualities needed to work in the Section des fraudes

The very nature of these crimes means that the entire fraud team - investigators, analysts and civilian employees - must be imaginative, determined and constantly aware of emerging types of fraud. At present, the Section's priority is on cases involving street gangs, then terrorism-related files and fraud targeting seniors.

Fraud is often and quite accurately called the crime of the future: defrauders quickly learn how to exploit new technologies, including the internet, to commit crimes all around the planet. The investigators have to be as quick and cunning as they are.

What will the future bring us?

Fraud is often seen as a non-violent crime, but organized crime, including street gangs and terrorist organizations, use fraud to steal vast fortunes every year. That money is used in part to finance other criminal activities, including buying drugs and funding terrorist activities.

Although we are optimistic about our skills and expertise, we know that defrauders are very creative and forward-thinking. The dazzling progress of the internet and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, for example, presents an incredible challenge to police forces everywhere. By developing solid, effective partnership with financial institutions and with the public and parapublic sectors, however, we will be able to meet tomorrow's defrauders head on.

With this perspective in mind, several committees have been created recently at the provincial and national levels to bring together all the stakeholders in order to explore best practices for defeating fraud. The SPVM's Section des fraudes is proud to be participating in these initiatives.

To find out more

Fraud - Advice on how to avoid falling victim

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