TORONTO, August 5, 2026 – Canadian law enforcement officials announced on August 5 that a pilot operation targeting auto finance fraud and cross-border vehicle exports has intercepted and recovered 392 vehicles over the past year, with a total estimated value of about $28 million. The operation covered Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver.
These vehicles are different from ordinary street-level auto theft cases. Investigators found that criminal groups were stealing or falsifying other people’s identity information, using that information to apply for auto loans and purchase vehicles, and then insuring the vehicles under the same identity before attempting to export them overseas through Canadian seaports.
The operation, known as Project NoCargo, began in June 2025. It is led by the RCMP’s Federal Financial Crime unit, in partnership with INTERPOL Ottawa, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, and financial institutions.
Under the operation, the CBSA refers export cases with potential financial fraud concerns to the RCMP for investigation. Once police confirm criminal involvement, border officers intercept the vehicles before they leave Canada.
Officials said auto finance fraud has increased, with related losses to Canada’s insurance industry estimated at $900 million last year. While insurance companies may initially absorb some claims, rising fraud losses can eventually affect auto insurance costs and the way financial institutions review loan applications.
This type of scheme means some victims may have never seen the vehicles involved, or even known that an auto loan or insurance policy had been opened in their name. They may only discover their identity information has been misused after receiving collection notices, seeing their credit score drop, or being denied other loans.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada advises residents to regularly check their credit reports and look for loans, credit accounts or inquiries they do not recognize. Canada’s two main credit reporting agencies, Equifax and TransUnion, both provide ways to obtain personal credit reports. Checking regularly can help residents detect fraudulent credit applications earlier.
If someone finds an unfamiliar auto loan or another unauthorized account in their name, they should contact the lender and credit reporting agencies as soon as possible, ask for an investigation and add a fraud alert to their credit file. They should also report the matter to local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
The RCMP said these cases often involve identity theft, financial fraud, insurance fraud and cross-border organized crime at the same time. Checking vehicles at ports alone is not enough to solve the problem. Information sharing among financial institutions, auto dealerships, insurance companies, transportation businesses and law enforcement agencies is also needed.
Project NoCargo is currently a pilot project. Officials have not yet disclosed how many identity theft victims were connected to the 392 vehicles, or how many people have been charged. However, they said information gathered through the operation will be used to identify and disrupt the criminal networks behind the scheme.（LJI by Yuanyuan）
