Quick Answer: If your shipping container deposit cleared and the delivery never arrived, the first 24 to 48 hours are critical. Call your bank’s fraud line immediately to attempt wire recall. File the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre report at 1-888-495-8501. File a local police report. Document everything. Recovery is rare but reporting matters. The LeBlanc family has run Van Blanc Ent. Inc. since 1995. 124+ verified Google reviews at 4.9 stars, 1-3 day delivery.
In This Guide
- How do I know my container delivery is a scam and not just late?
- What should I do in the first 24 hours after a container delivery no-show?
- Which official reports should I file in the first 72 hours?
- What should I do in week one to submit pattern data?
- Can I get my container deposit back after the first week?
- What should I NOT do after a container delivery scam?
- How do I document everything for the bank and police?
- Where do I report a shipping container scam in Canada?
- What do real callers experience? Christian explains
- FAQs
Reading time: 14 minutes
How Do I Know My Container Delivery Is a Scam and Not Just Late?
A container delivery scam follows a clear pattern: your deposit cleared, the delivery date passed, and the seller goes silent or offers vague transport excuses. A real supplier confirms a firm date, answers the phone, and lets you walk the unit in the yard. When those signals flip, treat it as fraud and act within hours.
If you are reading this article, you probably did not start your day expecting to be reading it. You paid a deposit on a shipping container, the promised delivery date came and went, and the seller has either gone quiet or is feeding you vague excuses. You are starting to suspect what every Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre caller eventually concludes: the container is not coming, the seller is not real, and the money is gone. If part of you is still wondering whether the whole category is one big con, it is not; legitimate Ontario yards sell containers every day, but the marketplace listings that undercut everyone are where the fraud lives.
This article is the recovery playbook. We do not write this from a comfortable distance. Van Blanc has taken the panicked phone call from Canadians in this exact situation for thirty years, and most of what is written here we have walked through with callers on the phone. The structural reality of Canadian shipping container deposit fraud is that recovery is rare. Acknowledging that upfront does not mean nothing is worth doing. It means the actions in the first 24 to 72 hours matter more than anything else, and the reporting actions in the first week contribute to a national pattern picture that may not save your deposit but does sometimes lead to mule arrests and protects future buyers from the same listing.
The first thing to do is to accept that “delayed” has become “scammed.” Most buyers spend three to seven days in denial after the delivery date passes, hoping the next message clears up the situation. That denial period is the most expensive time window in the entire process. Recall windows close, accounts get drained, listings come down, and the trail goes cold. If you are reading this article wondering whether you have been scammed, treat the answer as yes and start the playbook now. Walking back from “scammed” to “actually it was just delayed” is easy if the container shows up. Walking back from “lost the recall window” to “saved my deposit” is impossible.
Christian LeBlanc, second-generation operator at Van Blanc: “The first call we get is almost always a day or two too late. People wait, they hope, they reread the messages looking for a reason to believe it is just slow. I get it. But the clock that matters is the bank recall window, not the seller. The moment the date passes and the answers get vague, stop waiting for the container and start working the phone. That single shift in the first day is the difference between a small chance and no chance.”
What Should I Do in the First 24 Hours After a Container Delivery No-Show?
The single most important action in the first 24 hours is to call your bank’s fraud line. Not your local branch. Not your account manager. The dedicated fraud number on the back of your card or printed on your bank’s website. Every major Canadian bank has one staffed 24 hours a day.
Major Canadian bank fraud lines
- RBC: 1-800-769-2511 (Royal Bank fraud line)
- TD Canada Trust: 1-866-222-3456 (general fraud reporting)
- Scotiabank: 1-866-625-0561 (fraud and security)
- CIBC: 1-888-872-2422 (general fraud line)
- BMO: 1-844-837-9228 (BMO fraud reporting)
- National Bank: 1-844-394-4494 (Quebec and elsewhere)
- Credit unions: Each provincial credit union network has its own fraud line; check your specific institution.
Confirm the current number on your bank’s website before calling, as fraud lines occasionally change. The numbers above are accurate as of early 2026 but should be verified.
When you call, explain immediately that you have been the victim of a fraudulent wire transfer or Interac e-transfer for a shipping container purchase. Provide the transaction reference number, the recipient account details, the date and time of the transfer, and the dollar amount. Ask specifically: “Can you initiate a wire recall request?” or “Can you attempt to reverse this e-transfer through your fraud claims process?”
The recall window for wire transfers is typically 24 to 48 hours. If the recipient’s bank cooperates and the funds have not yet been withdrawn or forwarded by the money mule, the wire can sometimes be recalled. For Interac e-transfers, the recall is harder because once the recipient accepts the transfer, the funds settle and Interac has no recall mechanism. Your only hope on e-transfer is if the recipient has not yet accepted at the moment you call.
Time is the variable. The earlier you call after realising, the higher the chance of bank-side intervention. Buyers who call within the first 12 hours occasionally recover. Buyers who call after 48 hours rarely do.
Recovery odds in a container delivery no-show depend heavily on how you paid and how fast you move. The table below compares the common payment methods buyers use, what reversal mechanism each one has, and the realistic window for acting.
| Payment method | Reversal mechanism | Realistic recovery window | Relative odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wire transfer | Bank-to-bank wire recall if funds not yet forwarded | 24 to 48 hours | Low, but the best available |
| Interac e-transfer | No recall once the recipient accepts the transfer | Only before acceptance | Very low |
| Credit card | Chargeback through the card issuer for goods not received | Days to weeks, per issuer rules | Highest of the four |
| Cash or cryptocurrency | None; both are effectively irreversible | None | Essentially zero |
The pattern holds across every container deposit case we hear about: the more reversible the payment method and the faster the call to the fraud line, the better the odds. This is also why our yard takes payment on delivery, so the box is in front of you before any money settles.
Which Official Reports Should I File in the First 72 Hours?
Once the bank fraud line is contacted, the next 72 hours should be spent filing official reports across the relevant Canadian agencies. Each report serves a different purpose. Filing all of them increases the pattern data available to investigators, even when individual recovery is unlikely.
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC)
The CAFC is Canada’s central fraud intelligence aggregator. They do not investigate individual cases below significant thresholds but they aggregate reports to identify patterns, share intelligence with the RCMP and provincial police, and occasionally trigger investigations of mule networks. File at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or call 1-888-495-8501. The online form takes about 20 to 30 minutes if you have your documentation organised. The 2025 CAFC annual report documented record reported fraud losses nationally, with the CAFC estimating only 5 to 10 percent of cases are reported. Filing your report contributes to closing that reporting gap.
Local police service
File a report with your local police service. Most banks require a police case number as part of any fraud claim. Most Ontario police services accept online fraud reports through their websites. Some, like the Ontario Provincial Police, have dedicated fraud units that handle organised fraud patterns. The OPP also has a tip line at 1-888-310-1122 for general fraud reporting. The Toronto Police Service, Hamilton Police, Ottawa Police, and other municipal services all have similar online reporting forms.
Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker
The BBB Scam Tracker (bbb.org/scamtracker) is a public-facing fraud database where consumers can report scams and search for prior reports. The Sea Can Scam pattern is well-documented on BBB Scam Tracker, and adding your case helps future buyers verify whether a particular listing matches a known fraud pattern. This is one of the few places where your report directly protects another buyer.
Platform reporting
If the listing was on Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, or another platform, report it through the platform’s own reporting tools. The listing may still be active and victimising others. Platforms do not always remove fraudulent listings quickly but reporting is the trigger that sometimes works.
What Should I Do in Week One to Submit Pattern Data?
After the first 72 hours, the focus shifts from active recovery to contributing pattern data and protecting future buyers. The actions that matter in week one:
- Contact the legitimate Canadian company whose identity was stolen. If the scammer used the name “BigSteelBox,” “Conterm,” “ATS Containers,” “Van Blanc,” or any other real Canadian container company, contact that company directly to inform them. Most of us track impersonation reports because they help us coordinate with platforms and law enforcement.
- Notify your credit-monitoring service. Canadian buyers should monitor Equifax and TransUnion reports for any unauthorised activity, especially if the scammer collected personal information beyond the wire details. Identity theft sometimes follows merchandise fraud.
- Contact the platform’s safety or trust team if available. Some platforms have escalation paths beyond the standard report function. Facebook’s Trust and Safety team can be contacted through certain reporting categories.
- Document the chronology in a written timeline. Date, time, message content, payment confirmation, every communication exchange. The timeline serves as evidence for the bank, police, and any future civil action.
- If the amount lost is large enough to justify legal fees, consult a lawyer specialising in financial fraud. Most lawyers will offer a free consultation. Civil recovery against the money mule (if identified by police) may be possible in some cases, particularly if the mule was knowing rather than recruited.
Can I Get My Container Deposit Back After the First Week?
This section is the hard part of the playbook to write because the honest assessment of recovery is that it is rare. We are not going to soften that. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s own reporting suggests fewer than 10 percent of merchandise fraud victims recover meaningful amounts. The structural reasons (money mule layers, offshore final recipients, irreversible payment methods) are the same reasons the scam works in the first place.
That said, there are scenarios where recovery does happen:
- The bank’s fraud claim succeeds. If the bank determines the loss was ‘beyond your reasonable control’ under its internal criteria, partial or full reimbursement is possible. This is more common for e-transfer interception cases (where someone else guessed the security question) than for deposit-scam cases (where the buyer authorised the transfer). For container-deposit scams, the criteria rarely apply, but it does occasionally happen.
- The wire is successfully recalled. Within the first 24 to 48 hours, if the receiving bank cooperates and the money has not been forwarded, the wire can be returned. This is the highest-value action in the entire playbook.
- Police identify and arrest the mule, and the mule’s account still has funds. Less common because mules typically forward funds within hours of receipt, but it does happen, particularly when the mule is in the same jurisdiction.
- Civil action against the mule is feasible. If the mule is identified and Canadian-based, a civil suit is possible. The cost-benefit usually only makes sense once the loss is large enough that the recoverable amount clearly exceeds the legal fees.
For most buyers, the realistic expectation is that the deposit is gone. The reports filed in week one are still worth filing because they contribute to the pattern picture and protect future buyers. The lesson learned is the next purchase will be different: COD-only, credit card, walk the yard, and run a few quick checks on the seller before any money changes hands. The thirty-year operator’s view of this is that the lesson, painful as it is, is the durable outcome of the situation.
What Should I NOT Do After a Container Delivery Scam?
Several common reactions to discovering you have been scammed are well-intentioned but counterproductive.
Mistakes to avoid in the first week
- Do not send additional payments hoping it will trigger delivery. Scammers occasionally come back with “we just need one more payment to release the shipment.” This is the second-stage scam. Never send additional money.
- Do not threaten the scammer in writing. Once you have realised you have been scammed, do not respond with threats, anger, or demands. Document the silence and let police and bank handle communication. Threats can be used against you in some jurisdictions.
- Do not delete any correspondence. Even messages you find embarrassing or angry. The full chronology is the evidence.
- Do not engage with “recovery service” cold-calls. A common second-stage scam targets fraud victims with offers to “recover your money for a small fee.” These are themselves scams. Real fraud recovery is done by your bank, police, and possibly a hired lawyer; never by a cold-calling “recovery specialist.”
- Do not post the scammer’s contact details publicly without consulting police. Doxxing can interfere with investigations and create legal exposure. File reports through proper channels.
- Do not delay reporting because you feel embarrassed. The CAFC and police see container fraud reports constantly. Nothing about your case will surprise them. The reporting matters even if recovery is uncertain.
How Do I Document Everything for the Bank and Police?
The quality of your documentation directly affects how seriously the bank, police, and CAFC treat your report. Strong documentation also matters for any potential civil action later.
What to compile, organised in a single folder or document:
- The original listing: screenshot the Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, or website page that contained the listing. Capture URL, date, seller name, photos.
- Every message exchanged: screenshots or exports of all Messenger conversations, SMS threads, emails, WhatsApp messages.
- The invoice: every version of every invoice received from the scammer.
- Payment confirmation: the bank’s wire confirmation, the Interac e-transfer receipt, any credit card statements showing the charge.
- The scammer’s contact details: every phone number, email, website, social media profile, and bank account name that appeared during the transaction.
- A written timeline: date-and-time chronology of every event from first contact to final realisation. One page is fine. The point is having it in writing.
- Any voicemails left by the scammer or response messages from claimed shipping companies.
The bank’s fraud team and CAFC investigators do their work faster when this documentation is organised and complete. A buyer who arrives with a clear folder of evidence gets meaningfully more attention than one who pieces together the story from memory.
Where Do I Report a Shipping Container Scam in Canada?
| Channel | Contact | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Your bank fraud line | Number on back of card or bank website | Wire recall, e-transfer recovery, fraud claim |
| Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre | 1-888-495-8501 or antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca | National fraud intelligence aggregation |
| Ontario Provincial Police | 1-888-310-1122 or opp.ca | Provincial fraud investigation |
| Local police service | City-specific (Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, etc.) | Local fraud report + case number for bank claim |
| Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker | bbb.org/scamtracker | Public fraud database, protect future buyers |
| Competition Bureau of Canada | competition-bureau.canada.ca | B2B fraud and deceptive marketing reports |
| FINTRAC (for large or suspicious transfers) | fintrac-canafe.gc.ca | Money laundering and suspicious transaction reports |
| Platform fraud teams | Through platform reporting tools | Take down active fraudulent listings |
| Provincial Consumer Protection | Ontario.ca/page/consumer-protection-ontario | Ontario-specific consumer complaints |
Most of these channels can be filed with within the first 72 hours. The full directory exists because no single agency in Canada handles all aspects of merchandise fraud. The bank handles the money. The police handle the investigation. The CAFC handles the pattern aggregation. The BBB handles the public-facing scam database. Each report does a different job, and the combination is what makes the overall response more effective than any single report would be.
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What Do Real Callers Experience? Christian Explains
Christian LeBlanc, second-generation operator at Van Blanc: “The call always starts the same way. The buyer is angry, scared, embarrassed, all three. We listen. We tell them about the recall window. We give them the CAFC number. We tell them what to document. By the end of the call, the buyer is calmer because there is a sequence of things to do and the panic has somewhere to go. The deposit is usually gone but the sequence still matters. We are not the bank, we are not the police, we cannot get the money back. What we can do is be the operator who has heard this call three times this month already and walk them through what comes next. That is the role we have for thirty years now.”
The reason this article exists is that Van Blanc, like every Ontario container yard, takes the post-scam phone call regularly. We are not the right place to recover money but we are sometimes the first calm voice the caller hears, and the playbook above is what we walk them through. Buyers who run the sequence in the first 24 to 72 hours give themselves the best available chance, even if the best available chance remains structurally low. The honest framing is that prevention beats recovery by a factor of ten, which is why our other seven articles in this series exist. If you are reading this article and the loss has not happened yet, read the other articles before you wire. If you are reading this article and the loss already happened, run the playbook above and contribute your pattern data to the national picture. Both are useful uses of the same content.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to reverse a wire transfer in Canada?
The recall window is typically 24 to 48 hours from the time of the original transfer. After that, the receiving bank’s account holder has usually withdrawn or forwarded the funds, and recovery becomes essentially impossible. Calling your bank’s fraud line within the first 12 hours of recognising the scam gives the highest chance of recall. Beyond 72 hours, focus shifts from active recovery to pattern reporting.
Will the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre investigate my case?
The CAFC functions as a national intelligence aggregator, not a primary investigator. Individual cases below significant dollar thresholds are rarely investigated separately, but the aggregated reports contribute to pattern identification, intelligence sharing with the RCMP, and occasional investigations of mule networks. Filing the report contributes to the national picture even when individual recovery is unlikely.
Can my bank refund a wire transfer that I authorised to a scammer?
Sometimes, under narrow criteria. Banks may reimburse losses determined to be ‘beyond your reasonable control,’ but the definition is narrow and most container-deposit scams do not meet it because the buyer authorised the transfer. Wire transfers in particular have weaker buyer protection than credit card chargebacks. Each Canadian bank has its own fraud claim process and criteria.
What is the difference between e-transfer interception fraud and a deposit scam?
E-transfer interception fraud is when someone other than the intended recipient guesses the security question and intercepts the funds. Canadian banks generally treat interception fraud as covered under their fraud protection. Deposit scams are when the buyer intentionally sent funds to a person who turned out to be a scammer. The protection criteria are stricter for deposit scams because the buyer authorised the transfer to the recipient as identified at the time.
Should I hire a lawyer to recover my container deposit?
When the loss is large enough to justify legal fees, a consultation with a lawyer specialising in financial fraud is worth considering. The cost-benefit usually favours civil action only when the mule has been identified, is Canadian-based, and has recoverable assets. When the loss is small relative to what a lawyer would charge, the legal fees typically exceed the realistic recovery. For most container-deposit losses, the playbook above represents the realistic limit of recovery effort.
Will reporting the scam protect future buyers?
Yes, partially. Reports to the BBB Scam Tracker become publicly searchable and help future buyers cross-check listings against documented frauds. Reports to the CAFC contribute to pattern data that occasionally leads to mule arrests and platform-level takedowns. Reports to platforms can sometimes get the active fraudulent listing removed. None of these are guaranteed, but the aggregate effect of consistent reporting has measurably slowed individual fraudster operations over the past five years.
Sources
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. (2026). Report fraud or scams. Government of Canada. antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police. (2026). Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre fraud reporting. rcmp.ca
- Ontario Provincial Police. (2026). Report a crime online. opp.ca
- Better Business Bureau. (2026). BBB Scam Tracker. bbb.org/scamtracker
- Interac Corp. (2026). Protect your payments: Recover from fraud. interac.ca
Reach Van Blanc in Brantford
We have been supplying shipping containers across Ontario since 1995. We are not the police, the bank, or the recovery service. What we are is the Brantford yard that has taken the post-scam phone call from Canadian buyers for thirty years. If you have been scammed and need someone to walk through the playbook with, call us.
Van Blanc Ent. Inc. 90 Morton Ave E Unit 1B, Brantford, ON N3R 7J7. 519-754-6844
When you are ready to buy again, on terms that prevent this from happening twice, we are here. You can look over the graded units we keep on the lot and pay on delivery, walk the bin before you pay, 1-3 day delivery from our four Brantford yards. The buyer who has been through a scam once is the most careful buyer the second time, and we work well with careful buyers.