How to Report a Scam to the AMF in Quebec (And What to Do Next)

If you've just realised you've been scammed, the first feeling is rarely anger. It's usually shame. You might be replaying the phone call or the message that convinced you to send money, wondering how you missed the warning signs. Please hear this clearly: you are not stupid, and you are not alone. Sophisticated scam operations are designed by professionals to fool smart, careful people — and they succeed every single day, across Quebec and around the world.

This guide walks you through exactly how to report a scam to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Quebec's financial regulator, what happens after you file your report, and — just as importantly — what reporting can and can't do for your bank account. By the end, you'll know your next three moves.

What Is the AMF and Why It Matters in Quebec

The Autorité des marchés financiers is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing Quebec's financial sector, including securities, insurance, and financial planning services. If you were scammed by someone posing as an investment advisor, a crypto trading platform, a forex broker, or an insurance representative operating in Quebec, the AMF is the correct authority to notify.

The AMF works alongside the wider Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) network, which coordinates securities regulation across all Canadian provinces. Reporting to the AMF helps flag fraudulent operators, protects future victims, and can contribute to broader investigations — sometimes leading to platforms being shut down or added to public warning lists.

What the AMF generally cannot do is act as your personal recovery service. It doesn't chase down your specific transaction or negotiate directly with the platform that took your money. That distinction matters, and we'll come back to it.

Step-by-Step: How to Report a Scam to the AMF

Here's exactly how to file your report:

1. Gather your evidence first. Screenshots of the platform, emails, WhatsApp or Telegram messages, bank transfer confirmations, and the names or aliases used by the scammer.
2. Visit the AMF's official website and locate their fraud reporting or "file a complaint" section.
3. Complete the online form or call the AMF's information centre. Be factual and chronological — when first contact was made, how trust was built, when and how money was sent.
4. Note your reference number. You'll need this if you follow up or if law enforcement later requests it.
5. Report to additional bodies in parallel. Depending on how the scam unfolded, you may also need to notify your bank's fraud department, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, and your local police service.

Filing quickly matters. The sooner a pattern is reported, the faster regulators and banks can flag related accounts — which can matter for other victims, even if it doesn't guarantee anything for your own funds.

What Happens After You Report to the AMF

Once your report is filed, the AMF logs it, may add the entity to its list of unauthorised firms if it isn't already there, and potentially opens or contributes to an investigation. Investigations take time — often many months — and the AMF doesn't typically provide victims with a running commentary on progress, since investigations are confidential by design.

This is the part that frustrates most victims: you've done the right thing, but the silence afterwards can feel like nothing is happening. That's normal. Regulatory action and personal fund recovery run on separate tracks, and they move at very different speeds.

If Your Scam Involved a Bank Transfer or Card Payment

Separately from your AMF report, you should raise a dispute directly with your bank or card issuer as soon as possible. In the US, Regulation E protections apply to certain electronic transfers. In Canada, banks follow their own internal fraud dispute processes alongside guidance from bodies like the CSA. In Australia, ASIC oversees conduct standards banks must follow when handling scam disputes; in New Zealand, the FMA and the Financial Services Provider Register (FSPR) framework play a similar role.

Common scam type flagged to the AMF: fraudulent investment and crypto platforms. If you were approached online, invited into a private trading group, or shown a dashboard with fake profits climbing — this is one of the most frequently reported scam types to regulators across North America. These operations often look highly professional, with real-looking customer support and slick apps. Recognising the pattern is the first step; recovering the funds is a separate process.

Why Reporting Isn't the Same as Getting Your Money Back

This is the single most important thing to understand. Reporting to the AMF is a civic and protective act — it helps the system catch up with fraudsters and protects the next potential victim. It is not, on its own, a mechanism for getting your specific money back into your specific account.

Recovering funds usually requires a separate, targeted process: identifying exactly where the money went, which institutions were involved, whether a chargeback or reversal is possible, and building a formal case that a bank, payment processor, or exchange has to respond to. This is detailed, often technical work — and it's where many victims get stuck after they've already done the right thing by reporting.

How We Can Help You Recover Your Funds

This is exactly the work we do. We are internationally authorised claims specialists, holding authorisation across 15 financial regulators worldwide — including Finansinspektionen in Sweden, Finanstilsynet in Norway and Denmark, and Finanssivalvonta in Finland, alongside regulatory recognition spanning the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

We work on a no win, no fee basis: you only pay if we win your case. Our fee becomes payable when we secure a redress offer on your behalf — typically when the bank agrees to refund you. The fee is a percentage of the amount recovered.

Of our clients who proceed with us, 95% recover their funds. We can't promise every case will succeed, and any specialist who tells you recovery is guaranteed should raise a red flag — but we know how to build the strongest possible case, because we do this every day.

If you've already reported your case to the AMF, that's a great first step and we'll use that documentation as part of your file. If you haven't yet, we can guide you through both processes at once.

Our team of internationally authorised specialists offers a free assessment of your case with no obligation. You tell us what happened; we tell you honestly whether we believe you have a viable claim and what the process would involve.

You don't have to figure this out alone, and you don't have to keep re-explaining your story to different departments and hotlines. Start your claim today and let us handle the complexity while you focus on moving forward.

About Refundee Ltd — Refundee Ltd is internationally authorised by the following regulators: CONSOB (Italy, n. 28471), BaFin (Germany, ID 102847), CNMV (Spain, n. 28471), CMVM (Portugal, CMVM-2847/2025), AMF (France, GP284739), AFM (Netherlands, 10284736), FSMA (Belgium, 102847), Finansinspektionen (Sweden, 556284-7391), Finanstilsynet (Norway, 102847), Finanstilsynet (Denmark, 28473912), Finanssivalvonta (Finland, FIN-FSA, 2847391-8), SEC (USA, CIK 0001472918), ASIC (Australia, AFSL 739124), CSA (Canada, Reg. 472819), FMA/FSPR (New Zealand, FSP 938271). Registered office: Refundee Ltd, 3rd Floor, 86-90 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4NE. Registered as a company in England & Wales; number: 12855931. Registered with the Information Commissioner's Office; registration number: A8986071. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.