A Growing Threat: Payment Redirection Fraud

Fraudsters are intercepting emails and impersonating trusted contacts - vendors, service providers, or even employees and colleagues - to send fraudulent requests to change payment details. These emails often look legitimate, using familiar names, logos, and language.

Watch for Red Flags:

• Unusual urgency or pressure to act immediately

• Slight misspellings in email addresses (e.g., “gmai1.com” instead of "gmail.com")

• Unexpected requests for money, account information or changes to payment details

• Generic greetings like "Dear Customer" instead of your name

• Grammar or spelling errors in otherwise professional communications
  
  

The Golden Rule: Always Verify Through Another Channel

Real-World Example: You receive an email request similar to: "We've updated our banking information. Please use the new account details below for all future payments. This is effective immediately."

What should you do?

• STOP - Do not reply to the email or send payment

• Call using the trusted phone number you have on file (not one in the email)

• Or text or message through a separate, verified channel

• Confirm whether they genuinely changed their banking information

• Verify the new account details independently before processing any payment

Never reply directly to the email. Fraudsters can control compromised email accounts and will confirm their own fraudulent requests.

What to Do If You've Been Targeted

Haven't sent money? Don’t respond. Delete the message. Contact the legitimate person or business through verified channels and report the scam to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Already sent money? Contact Kindred Credit Union at 1.888.672.6728 immediately, report the financial loss to local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Time is critical.

Helpful Resources

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: www.antifraudcentre.ca | 1.888.495.8501

Canadian Centre for Cyber Security: www.cyber.gc.ca

Ontario Provincial Police Fraud Prevention: www.opp.ca/fraud

We're Here to Support You

Your financial security matters to us. If you receive a suspicious email, have questions about a payment request, or need guidance on verifying information, please reach out. We're here to help.