The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Canadian securities regulators report a rise in fraud schemes using social media to entice victims into investing in specific stocks. The Globe's Alexandra Posadzki reports that these scams resemble pump-and-dump schemes. It's the latest warning as securities watchdogs combat a deluge of fraud in recent years, with victims reporting more than $704-million in losses to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre last year. That is up from $645-million in 2024, and likely represents just the tip of the iceberg. The centre estimates that only 5 per cent to 10 per cent of fraud is reported. The issue has attracted the attention of the federal government, which is consulting on a strategy to deal with it. The Canadian Securities Administrators says its members are witnessing an increase in what it calls ramp-and-dump schemes. These scams are similar to pump-and-dump schemes, with one key difference: the perpetrators rely on social-media platforms to connect with prospective victims, inviting them into investment groups on private messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Discord and Telegram. Sometimes the scammers impersonate celebrities, politicians or well-known stock advisers.