Sun Life Financial

Important: fraud alerts

Sun Life Financial investigates all reports of our brand, logo or corporate name being used for fraudulent activities. When we are aware of a scam, we will provide a description and instructions here. If you don't see your situation in the scams listed below, contact us immediately.

• Current fraud alerts
• Ongoing scams
• What to do if you suspect fraud
• How to protect yourself from scams
• Contact us
• Learn more

Current fraud alerts:

Advance fee scam
Scam artists are misusing the name "SLFC Unit Managers (UK) Limited" to commit a type of advance fee fraud targeting individuals and companies in the United States and United Kingdom.

A phony contract or "Deed of Agreement" is sent in an effort to defraud unsuspecting investors by using Sun Life Financial's name or a variation of the company name. In some incidents, the scam artist uses a legitimate address of Sun Life Financial in fraudulent documentation to gain the trust of potential victims. These "agreements” or “deeds" are not from Sun Life Financial or any of its business entities.

View a sample of the fake contract.

Sun Life job scam (Mystery shopper)
This scam involves the victim applying for a job that appears to be connected to Sun Life. The scammer is using the Sun Life name to give credibility to their scam. In response, the applicant will receive a letter. The details of each letter will vary, but all responses include a cheque. This cheque is forged or stolen. The letter will instruct the victim to deposit the cheque, withdraw funds and then wire transfer part of the money.

Banks typically allow 7 days to verify the funds for a cheque. The funds will appear in the victim’s account, but if the bank determines the cheque is counterfeit, the account holder is responsible for repayment to the bank. Once a wire transfer is confirmed the funds are no longer available for recovery. The wire transfer company takes the money to ensure the funds are available.

This is an example of what a fake job ad may look like:

If you see a Sun Life job advertisement that you suspect is fraudulent, please contact us.

Share or boiler room scams ("Sun Life Offshore" or "Sun Life Gold Market")
Report any communication referencing "Sun Life Offshore" or "Sun Life Gold Market." The scam artists e-mail you, posing as Customer Service representatives. They target potential investors by using tactics such as sending research reports, calling and mailing brochures to persuade you to buy worthless shares. They are typically very persistent and extremely persuasive. Investors who fall victim by purchasing shares are out of pocket because the shares are worthless and the boiler room then vanishes.

For more information or to report a fraud, contact the following U.K. organizations or visit their websites:

• The City of London Police has information on their website about the latest frauds and how to report them.
  Telephone: 020 7601 2222
  City of London Police - Boiler room
• The Financial Services Authority (FSA) lists boiler room scams and information on authorized U.K. stockbrokers.
  Telephone: 0845 606 1234
  www.fsa.gov.uk

Telemarketing scams
There are reports of telemarketing "operators" posing as Sun Life Financial representatives. The caller will typically try to get you to reveal your personal information either over the phone or get you to meet with a person, at your home or in a public place. They want you to disclose personal information such as your credit card numbers, your social insurance number or your Sun Life Financial insurance policy number, if they discover you have one. We are working with the appropriate authorities to help track down the people or organizations that may be involved in this scam.

If someone contacts you saying they are calling from Sun Life Financial (or a variation of our name), be on guard. Do not respond to unsolicited requests for your personal information over the phone or by Internet. Sun Life Financial keeps your policy and personal information in strictest confidence and does not disclose this information to telemarketers.

Sun Life Financial does not call or e-mail customers requesting personal information such as passwords, bank account information or a credit card number, unless you initiate the inquiry and we are responding to you. Review Sun Life's Privacy policy for more information.

Forged cheque scam
We are investigating a fraud that targets U.K. financial institutions.

A letter appearing to be from "Sun Life Financial of Canada" arrives addressed to the Branch Manager. Printed on poor-quality, non-official Sun Life Financial letterhead, the letter requests that an enclosed cheque be deposited to a specified account. The manager is asked to contact the account holder when the funds are deposited.

The letter and the cheque enclosed are not from Sun Life Financial, nor does the account belong to the company. If you receive such a cheque or letter, do not deposit the cheque or respond to the request.

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Ongoing scams:

Loan scam
This scam promises you a loan if you send them an up front fee, which may range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The fee must be wired before the loan proceeds will be provided. Once you send your money, you never receive the loan amount and there is no way to get your money back. Loan scams have been appearing as ads in the classified sections of local and national newspapers, magazines and tabloids.  Legitimate loan companies will not take any fees off the original loan amount.  In most jurisdictions, it is illegal for a company to request an up front fee prior to obtaining a loan. 

Cheque scam
This scam involves unauthorized individuals targeting people who have placed ads in websites or magazines to sell high value items such as vehicles and property. The scam artist, using an assumed name, calls the seller and says they're calling from a Sun Life Financial office. They offer to overpay for the item. The seller is sent a cheque for more than the purchase amount and is asked to forward the excess amount to an offshore location. The buyer's cheque is eventually declined, and the seller is out the funds.

Another variation of this scam involves a person who is owed money for goods sold through classified ads or on the Internet. The seller is sent a cheque for more than the amount of purchase and is asked wire transfer the difference back to the purchaser.  The cheque may be personal, a cashier’s cheque or appear to come from a company. The scammers use a variety of excuses to explain the overpayment. If you receive a cheque from Sun Life Financial that you were not expecting, do not cash it without contacting us first.

These are not Sun Life Financial lines of business. You should always be suspicious of anyone wanting to pay you more than the agreed selling price and expecting you to reimburse the difference.

Consumer's reward program scam
Scam artists are misusing the name "Sun Life Financial Services" to commit a type of advance fee fraud on unsuspecting residents in Canada and the United States.  Letters citing a "Consumer's Reward Program"  are mailed to recipients, advising them they have won a lottery.  These letters are not from Sun Life Financial or any of its business entities.

International lottery scam
This scam involves informing unsuspecting individuals, through notices, that they have won an international lottery. The lotteries are frequently called by various names such as "Australian Bonanza 2000" and "British International Lottery." In similar scams, individuals are informed that they have been selected as winners of an online sweepstakes or of unclaimed lottery funds. The notices, typically printed on fake Sun Life Financial letterhead, are accompanied by cheques to assist in paying international clearance fees. The cheques are drawn on closed accounts from companies with absolutely no connection with Sun Life Financial. Respondents who remit such clearance fees do not receive any lottery winnings and the cheques do not clear. These lotteries and other types of publicized sweepstakes are fraudulent. Cheques received as clearance fees are not issued by Sun Life Financial or any of its affiliated companies. Sun Life Financial continues to work with various police and postal authorities to investigate such scams.

Fraudulent website targets job seekers
This job fraud scam involves individuals receiving e-mail notification of a Transfer Manager position available at Sun Financial. The individuals are asked to contact a Financial Manager via a "sunfinancial-jobs.com" e-mail address. This website is fraudulent. Once hired, the applicant will be asked to accept and transfer money from their bank account to another account, often located in another country. The applicant will then be advised to keep a small percentage of the money being transferred as their payment. The money the applicant is transferring is either stolen or being laundered, which could make the applicant an accomplice to theft or wire fraud.

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What to do if you suspect fraud:

Contact us if you suspect fraud, believe you have been a target of a scam and/or receive a suspicious e-mail or telephone call from someone that you suspect to be falsely representing Sun Life Financial or if you have shared personal information with a scammer.

• Provide us with a copy of the e-mail, letter and/or cheque or, if you were contacted by phone,
  the date and time of the call.
• Notify your local police department.
• Contact other authorities if indicated above.

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How to protect yourself from scams:

• If you did not enter a lottery, you cannot win a lottery. There are no e-mail draws or lotteries where tickets are not sold.
  Legitimate lottery companies will not ask you for a payment before your can have your money. Sun Life Financial,
  as an insurer, cannot and does not sponsor lotteries.
• Do not wire transfer funds to someone you do not know. Sun Life Financial will never ask you to wire transfer funds.
• Legitimate loan companies and financial institutions will not ask you for money before lending you money.
  Sun Life Financial does not offer personal loans.
• Do not agree to have someone pay you more than the agreed selling price for goods and services and reimburse the balance.
• Do your research.  Ensure people and companies you are dealing with are legitimate. Helpful information is available on
  Internet news sources and with better business bureaus.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

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Contact us:

E-mail: investigative.services@sunlife.com

Telephone: (00) 1-519-888-2412 (collect calls accepted)

Calls are accepted 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Fax: (519) 741-0839

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