Canadian business owners and IP applicants/holders continue to be targeted by a rampant scam requesting payments to prevent ‘threats’ to their IP. Recently, there’s been an increase in fraudsters sending correspondence impersonating the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and using phone calls instead of e-mails to phish victims. Communications are highly sophisticated and may include personal information from public records or CIPO databases to appear legitimate.
If you receive an e-mail or phone call regarding your IP:
- Don’t panic and don’t rush to take action, especially if that involves sending money or personal information to an unknown source.
- If the individual claims to be a representative of CIPO, check that the e-mail address has “@ised-isde.gc.ca” domain and reach out to CIPO by telephone at 1-866-997-1936 (toll-free in Canada) to authenticate its veracity.
- Review this information from CIPO about scam notices.
- Check CPATA’s fraud notice to see if the individual’s name, business or phone number appear on CPATA’s list of names associated with this scam and compare the e-mail you received to the sample scam e-mails published by CPATA.
- Verify if the name used appears as a registered agent in CPATA’s Public Register .
- Reach out to your agent with questions or concerns about communications you receive instead of responding directly to them.
- If you have already fallen prey to the scam and sent money via PayPal or a credit card, contact your financial institution and/or PayPal to stop payment and report the fraud. You can also file a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
- Contact CPATA with any questions or concerns.
