Notice to Members: How to Distinguish Attempted Fraud?

You’ve probably already received an email or text message as part of a class action. You’re wondering whether you can trust the message or whether it’s fraud. Especially if you have never given your contact details for this class action.

This message could be legitimate, as it’s a practice increasingly accepted and encouraged by the courts. You’re right, however, to want to be sure before going any further.

Just because you haven’t signed up for a class action doesn’t mean the message is fraudulent. You can certainly receive an email, letter or even a text message as part of a class action without having registered for a class action.

Your contact information may have been obtained by:

1. A simple search, such as if you live in an area covered by a class action (e.g.: Circuit Mont-Tremblant class action for an area close to the race track) or;
2. The defendant with whom you have created an account and added your contact information (e.g. Facebook) or downloaded an app affected by a class action, such as at (e.g. Flo Health menstrual cycle tracking app).

For more information on how a notice can be sent to you as part of a Class action, read our article Class action: how are members notified?

Not necessarily, messages may ask you to click on a link or visit a site to read a more complete class member notice.
The presence of these elements is an indication of fraud, but they are also sometimes essential to fully inform you of all your rights.
However, you need to protect yourself against phishing attempts, because they are a reality and can have serious consequences. Before you click on anything, follow the advice below.

You can easily do a Google search (or on any other search engine) using certain keywords from the message received (e.g. “Thiel Meta class action”).

The website of the lawyers handling the case or the website of a firm mandated to disseminate notices to class members, such as Proactio, should be in the results of your search. You can then consult these sites for more information on the case.

It’s possible, however, that the words you’re looking for are so common that your search results won’t help you. Think of a search with the following keywords: “class action tickets”. You’ll get lots of results!

The most reliable method is to consult the Quebec registry of class actions, which is under the responsibility of the Quebec Superior Court and the law requires that notices to class members be published on the registry. There, you’ll find information and documents on all class actions filed in Quebec.

1. Access the register by clicking on this link
2. Click on the “Consulting the registry” button on the left of the home screen to be redirected to the search screen.
3. Enter the information available in the message to search:
   • The file number, if you have it, will give only one search result and will facilitate your search.
   • You can also search by keywords, such as the name of the plaintiff or the subject of the claim (e.g. Stuart Thiel or Meta). In this case, you may get several results, and you’ll need to check which one applies to you. It’s possible that the word you’re looking for isn’t in the description of the claim. Don’t give up hope! You can try a few different keywords.
4. Once you’ve found the right case, click on the case name (e.g. Stuart Thiel and Brianna Thicke v. Meta Platforms (Facebook inc.)) to access more information.
5. In the case file, you can consult the notice to class members in the “Documents and proceedings” section. The notice will normally be at the top of the list. There may also be a judgment ordering the publication of notices.
6. Alternatively, consult the “Counsel for the applicant” section to identify the lawyers handling the case and get their website where the notice will normally be published.

If you can’t find the class action following these two searches, you’ve potentially successfully thwarted a phishing attempt! Congratulations!

If you were able to find the class action on the lawyers’ site or the class action registry, you’ll probably be able to consult the notice directly on these sites. If all the elements match up, you can trust the message and do what you are instructed to do.

Remember that there are deadlines in class actions, for example, to claim compensation. If you’ve received a message that you’ve identified as legitimate, read it carefully and call the lawyers on file if you don’t understand what to do.