The fake SAAQclic text scam

What the scam looks like

A text arrives in the name of the SAAQ, Québec's driver-licensing and auto-insurance body. Depending on the version: your driver's licence is about to expire, your registration wasn't paid, a refund is waiting for you, or a document "wasn't received" and has to be submitted again. There's a short deadline and a link to a page dressed up like SAAQclic, sign-in box and all.

The SAAQ does contact people: renewal notices for a licence or a registration arrive by mail, with the amount and the due date on them. But a text about a billing problem or a refund is never real - the SAAQ itself says it never contacts clients by text for anything of the kind. And nothing official ever asks for your password, your SIN, or a full card number on a page you opened from a message. The fraudsters want your SAAQclic login, your card number, and enough detail - licence number, date of birth - to pass themselves off as you somewhere else.

Red flags

• An unsolicited text or email with a link to renew, to pay, or to "claim" a refund.
• A web address that imitates SAAQclic without being the SAAQ's official site.
• A tight deadline - 24 or 48 hours - or your licence is suspended, your registration cancelled, your file closed.
• A page asking for your SIN, your full card number, or a photo of your licence.

What to do

• Don't click the link. Type the SAAQ's address yourself and sign in to SAAQclic - don't follow the message. Anything you actually owe is there in your own file.
• Go by the official notice - the one in the mail or the one in your file: the amount, the due date, and the ways to pay are all on it. No public body demands payment by gift card, e-Transfer, or cryptocurrency.
• Already filled in the page? Call your bank if you entered a card number, change your SAAQclic password, then report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501).
• Not sure about the message? Paste it into our scam-text checker below.