Canadian Bankers Association
Challenge
Scams are becoming more personal, sophisticated, and emotionally manipulative, costing Canadians billions of dollars every year. This growing threat demanded a unified response that went beyond public-service warnings. It was clear that protecting Canadians would take more than vigilance; it required a united, national response.
The Canadian Bankers Association brought together more than 50 organizations across finance, telecom, tech, government, and law enforcement to form the Canadian Anti-Scam Coalition, a first-of-its-kind alliance. But how would they present themselves to rebuild public confidence and encourage Canadians to join together to fight back?
Solution
Instead of leading with fear, the campaign leaned into empathy, exposing small moments of hope, doubt, and quiet vulnerability that scammers often exploit. Scams are everywhere and seem unstoppable; they have become a regular part of life that people try to ignore. So we led with a simple idea: when we talk about scams, we’re fighting back. The campaign was about communicating to protect each other. Ignoring a scam doesn’t make it go away, but talking about the scams we see helps protect others and give anti-scam bodies the info they need to work against the scammers.
This culminated in a call to action that anyone could follow to protect themselves and others: Stop. Check. Talk.
The fully integrated rollout combined efforts across television, digital, social, PR, and the campaign landing page. Coalition members amplified the message through their owned channels, extending visibility across industries and turning the campaign into a collective movement.
Results
Stand Against Scams earned national attention and credibility across The Globe and Mail, BNN Bloomberg, and Citytv. The campaign marks one of the largest cross-sector efforts in the country to spark a national movement that gets Canadians to join together and fight back against scams.
The campaign is still in motion; however, the soft launch alone gained an estimated 34 million total impressions across all media and 20 million impressions across news wires.
