Fake SQDC websites
Sites copying the SQDC's look tried to collect personal data when Quebec legalized cannabis
This entry is about Canada — not the country you picked in the header.
According to Radio-Canada, Oct 17, 2018 · Read the source
- Where
- Quebec, Canada
- First reported
- Last checked
Reported
This entry is based on the reports and sources listed below.
Summary
When legal cannabis sales began in Canada in October 2018, websites imitating the Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC), Quebec's only legal cannabis retailer, appeared online. Radio-Canada reported on October 17, 2018 that two such sites were identified: sqdc.goodweed[.]ca, which offered a supposed queue for online cannabis sales and asked visitors for their email address, name, date of birth and gender, and sqdcquebec[.]com. A spokesperson for the SAQ, the SQDC's parent, told Radio-Canada that some sites were trying to reproduce the SQDC's visual identity, said the only legitimate address is sqdc[.]ca; any other wording in the address means it is not the right site. The spokesperson added that the SQDC does not ask for personal information from visitors who only want to browse the product list, and that its IT teams were working to have the fraudulent sites taken down.
What the source found
- sqdc.goodweed[.]ca collected names, emails, birth dates and gender through a fake 'queue' form.
- sqdcquebec[.]com also imitated the SQDC.
- The SAQ/SQDC said only sqdc[.]ca is legitimate and that it was working to have the sites shut down.
Timeline
Radio-Canada reports the fake SQDC sites
Sources
- News
Radio-Canada · Oct 17, 2018
Attention à ces faux sites de la Société québécoise du cannabis
Wording on this page follows the sources. Found an error? See the corrections process in our editorial policy.
Status notes
Historical (2018); sites are presumably offline. Status 'reported' because the source is a news report quoting the retailer, not a regulator action.
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