The fake Desjardins security-alert call
A text flags a suspicious transaction on your Desjardins account and invites you to reply. The call that follows is a fake security agent after the code that was just texted to you - or after a transfer to a "secure account."
What the scam looks like
A text lands: Desjardins security alert, suspicious transaction on your account, reply NO if it wasn't you. You reply NO. The phone rings within the minute. The voice is calm and polite. The caller says they're from Desjardins security, names your caisse - your local branch - and calls you by your name. They're blocking the card right now, they say. And a code has just gone out to your phone: can you read it back so they can confirm who you are?
The code is real. Desjardins sent it because the caller, while they have you talking, is signing in to your AccèsD. Desjardins does send genuine transaction alerts by text, and a real employee really can phone you. But nobody at Desjardins will ask you to read a verification code out loud. Not your AccèsD password either, and not your PIN. And nobody will have you move your money into a "secure account" for the length of an investigation: no such account exists.
Red flags
- Being asked to read back a code that was just texted to you. A code signs someone in. It never proves your identity to an employee.
- A call that arrives within a minute of a text you just answered.
- Being kept on the line - "don't hang up, I'll stay with you" - while you sign in to AccèsD.
- An offer to put your money somewhere safe: a "secure account," a "protection account," a transfer to another institution.
What to do
- Hang up. Then check on your own terms: open the AccèsD app, call back using the number on the back of your card, or walk into your caisse. A real employee won't mind.
- Never read a verification code out loud, and never enter one anywhere but AccèsD itself. Nobody at Desjardins needs to hear it, no matter how much the caller already seems to know about you.
- Read a code back, or moved money? Call your caisse right away, then report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501).
- A text you're not sure about? Paste it into our scam-text checker before you reply - replying at all tells the sender your number is live.
Learn more: Smishing: how to spot a scam text message