A step-by-step guide for Canadian and American seniors — and their families — on how to tell a real bank call from a scam call, including the exact phone script to use.

Your phone rings. The screen might even show your bank's name. Someone on the line says they're calling from your bank, and something is wrong with your account. They may already know your name. They might even know the last four digits of your card. They tell you there's suspicious activity, or a payment that needs to be stopped right now, before it's too late.

Is that really your bank calling? Or is it a bank impersonation scam — someone pretending to be your bank, hoping you'll panic and react before you think?

This guide walks through exactly how to tell the difference, every time, without needing to guess and without needing anyone else in the moment to help you figure it out. I cover this same topic in more detail in the video below — it's worth watching in full if you want to see it walked through step by step.

Watch the full video on my YouTube channel →

This kind of scam — someone pretending to be your bank or a government office — is one of the fastest-growing types of fraud targeting older adults today, on both sides of the border.

In Canada: the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), the national body that tracks and collects fraud reports, recorded over $643 million in reported fraud losses in 2024 — an increase of roughly 290% since 2020. Seniors accounted for about 40% of all reported dollar losses that year, and the CAFC has publicly flagged the "bank investigator scam" specifically — where a caller pretends to be from your bank or the police, convinces you a fraud investigation is underway, and talks you into handing over your card and PIN — as one of the scams they're actively seeing target older Canadians. It's also worth knowing that the CAFC estimates only 5–10% of frauds actually get reported, so the real numbers are almost certainly higher.

In the US: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. government agency that tracks fraud reports nationwide, found that the number of older adults (age 60+) reporting losses of $10,000 or more to government- and business-impersonation scams has more than quadrupled since 2020. Combined losses reported by older adults who lost over $100,000 increased eight-fold in the same period, jumping from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024.

Whichever side of the border you're on, the mechanics of the scam — and the way to protect yourself from it — are identical. Here's why this works even on smart, careful people: it's not about intelligence, it's about urgency and fear. When someone tells you your account is being drained right now, your brain wants to act immediately. Scammers count on that feeling — they want you moving before you're thinking clearly.

The good news: one simple habit protects you from almost every version of this scam.

No matter how official the caller sounds, no matter how much personal information they already seem to have, do not give out any information and do not agree to anything while you're still on the phone with them. Not your account number, not a one-time code, not a "yes" to anything. If it's genuinely your bank, they will completely understand you calling them back to confirm.

It might feel rude, especially if the caller sounds friendly or professional. It isn't rude — it's exactly what a real bank would want you to do if there's any doubt.

Don't use any number the caller gave you. Don't use a number from a text message you just received. And don't just search for it online either — scammers can create fake websites with fake phone numbers that show up in search results too. Instead, use the number printed on the back of your actual bank card, or on a real paper statement mailed to your house.

Ask: "Did someone from your bank just call me?" A real bank keeps records of calls made to customers and can tell you honestly whether that call came from them.

This is one of the most useful things to memorize, because it applies no matter how the scam is dressed up:

• A real bank will never ask for your full password or PIN
• A real bank will never ask you to read back a one-time code that was just texted to your phone
• A real bank will never ask you to pay using gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency

If you hear any of these requests, you're not talking to your bank — no matter what the caller ID says. Hang up.

That could be an adult child, another family member, a trusted neighbor, or the teller at your bank's physical branch. There's no situation where getting a second opinion makes things worse. A real bank will never pressure you to handle something alone, immediately, without talking to anyone. That pressure to act alone and act now is, by itself, one of the biggest red flags.

Mistake #1: Trusting caller ID. Many people assume that if the screen shows their bank's real name and number, the call must be legitimate. It doesn't have to be — scammers can display any name and number they want, including a real bank's information. Caller ID alone is never proof.

Mistake #2: Feeling embarrassed to check. Some people worry about "bothering" their adult children or a bank employee over something that might turn out to be nothing. This is exactly the feeling scammers count on. Any bank employee would rather spend two minutes confirming a real call than have you lose money to a fake one.

Mistake #3: Giving out "small," seemingly harmless details. Just a zip code, just the last four digits of something, just "to verify who you are." Scammers often collect these small pieces from multiple sources to sound more convincing on the next call.

1. Don't decide or agree to anything on that first call
2. Hang up
3. Find the real number yourself — from the back of your card or a paper statement
4. Call that number and ask if they contacted you
5. Remember: a real bank never asks for your PIN, a text code, or gift-card/wire/crypto payment
6. If you're ever unsure, bring in someone you trust before doing anything

This guide covers the essentials, but the video goes through each step in more detail with additional context on how these scams work.

Watch the full video on my YouTube channel →

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If you've ever gotten a call like this yourself, I'd like to hear what happened — your experience might be exactly what helps someone else recognize it in time.

• In Canada: report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501 or online at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
• In the US: report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, or call your local Adult Protective Services if you're a victim

Note on the statistics above: the CAFC figures (Canada) and FTC figures (US) cited here are both verified and current as of each agency's most recent published data. If you're citing a "nearly half of cases start with a phone call" statistic elsewhere, that figure was not verifiable against current FTC or CAFC data and should be double-checked or removed before publishing.