The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) said on Tuesday that it has facilitated the deactivation of 7,586 fraudulent investment platforms and crypto scam websites since launching a new takedown capability last year.
The coordinated effort targeted more than 13,000 individual URLs between June 5, 2025, and February 12, 2026, CSA data shows.
The initiative is a joint effort between the CSA, which coordinates securities regulation across Canada’s provinces and territories, and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), the country’s self-regulatory body for investment and mutual fund dealers. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) led the procurement and testing of the technology on behalf of both organisations.
Acceleration from proof-of-concept
The programme launched as a proof-of-concept in mid-2025. By late November 2025, it had deactivated 3,961 sites across 6,918 URLs. The cumulative total has since nearly doubled, with roughly 3,625 additional sites taken offline between late November and mid-February.
The increased rate of deactivations suggests the tool is scaling. Regulators have described the capability as designed to identify fraudulent websites quickly and coordinate their removal.
“The success of this initial phase shows that this technology can make a real difference, and the results show the impact it is already having. By identifying fraudulent websites quickly, we are taking meaningful steps to safeguard Canadians’ financial futures,” said Grant Vingoe, Chair of the CSA’s Policy Coordination Committee and CEO of the OSC.
The sites targeted typically share common characteristics: unregistered entities, promises of guaranteed returns, requests for remote device access, and fake celebrity endorsements, according to the CSA.
It is worth noting that “deactivation” does not necessarily mean the operators behind these sites have been arrested or that victim funds have been recovered. Domain churn is cheap, and scam operators can relaunch quickly. The value of the capability lies in reducing campaign uptime and limiting the window in which new victims can be reached.
Starting in 2026, the CSA will include takedown statistics in its annual Year in Review publication, making the initiative a permanent part of its enforcement reporting.
The programme began as a proof-of-concept, scaled through late 2025, and is now a core part of the CSA’s investor protection infrastructure.
