why are Canadians expected to police the telephone system themselves?

 enough is enough: why are Canadians expected to police the telephone system themselves?

I'm getting tired of being told what I must do to protect myself from scammers.

Create a password. Don't answer unknown numbers. Hang up. Block the number. Report the call. Protect your personal information. Watch out for artificial intelligence. Don't trust the voice on the other end.

Really?

Why is all this responsibility being placed on ordinary people?

We are now dealing with scammers who can imitate voices, spoof telephone numbers, impersonate government agencies and exploit personal information to steal money.

And the public is expected to become its own fraud investigation department.

Let's talk about accountability.

Canada's reported fraud losses exceeded $704 million in 2025. Reported losses since 2022 exceeded $2.4 billion. Even more concerning, the government estimates that only 5–10% of fraud is reported.

These are enormous numbers. And they represent real people, real savings, real families and real emotional distress.

(Source: Government of Canada, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.)

I have some questions for the people and institutions responsible for protecting Canadians.

To the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission):

• Why are Canadians still receiving so many fraudulent and spoofed calls?
• What standards are telecommunications providers required to meet to protect customers?
• How are you measuring whether existing call-blocking technology is working?
• What consequences are there when providers fail to adequately protect consumers?
• Why should customers have to pay extra for protections against fraudulent calls?

To Bell and Canada's other telecommunications providers:

• You have sophisticated networks and access to technologies capable of identifying suspicious calling patterns. What more can you do?
• Why should customers have to spend their time screening, blocking and reporting fraudulent calls?
• What are you doing to stop these calls before they reach our phones?
• Are you investing enough in protecting customers, and are you being transparent about the results?

To the federal government:

• Where is the accountability for the billions of dollars Canadians are losing?
• Are our existing laws keeping pace with AI-generated fraud?
• Who is coordinating telecommunications companies, financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement?
• What concrete protections are being delivered to consumers?
• Why are we still treating fraud prevention primarily as an individual responsibility?

And what about our personal data?

Our information has become incredibly valuable. Phone numbers, personal details, photographs and recordings can all contribute to impersonation and fraud.

Who is responsible for protecting that information?

What happens when it is misused?

Why should ordinary people have to spend their time cleaning up the consequences?

I also want investigative journalists paying attention.

Organizations such as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) have demonstrated the importance of investigating complex international networks, financial wrongdoing and abuses of power.

Fraud is increasingly international. We need investigative reporting that follows the money, examines the systems being exploited and asks who is benefiting.

Enough with simply telling consumers to be careful.

Yes, families should establish safe words. Yes, we should verify suspicious calls. Yes, we should report fraud.

But those are precautions, not a substitute for systemic protection.

I don't want another awareness campaign telling me to hang up the phone.

I want to know what the people responsible for the systems we depend on are doing to stop these calls in the first place.

Our time matters. Our privacy matters. Our money matters.

And our right to use a telephone without constantly wondering whether the person on the other end is real matters.

Who is actually in charge of protecting us, and when are we going to see meaningful accountability?