
Nelisha Vellani
Executive Producer, CBC Marketplace
Nelisha Vellani is an award-winning investigative journalist and the executive producer of Marketplace, CBC's consumer investigative program. She has spent nearly a decade investigating phone and internet-based scams, from their origins overseas to their connections in Canada. Other notable works include investigating Canada's food waste crisis, exposing Canadians who hold fake degrees, and revealing flaws in the restaurant dress code policies at national restaurant chains, leading to corporate policy changes.
Latest from Nelisha Vellani

Marketplace
We partner with world-renowned scambusters to create our own fraud-fighting call centre
Joining forces with top scambusters to take on scammers from around the world, the team cracks into networks of organized crime groups, watching some through their own security cameras, and confronts fraudsters in real time
Marketplace |

Marketplace
Her grandson's voice said he was under arrest. This senior was almost scammed with suspected AI voice cloning
Artificial intelligence has made the grandparent scam, where fraudsters pretend to be a loved one in trouble, that much trickier. Now, scammers can clone the voice of your family members and use it to get you to open up your wallet.
Marketplace |

Marketplace
A look at the sneaky fees at Canada's biggest tourist spot that some call 'a total cash grab'
Marketplace has been investigating the hidden fees tacked onto consumers’ bills at hotels, restaurants and attractions in Niagara Falls, Ont., and has found the fees continue to increase with little oversight or regulation.
Business |

MARKETPLACE
Despite laying dozens of charges, RCMP have stopped targeting Canadian accomplices in foreign scam calls
The RCMP’s Project Octavia arrested 11 people in Canada who were accused of funneling money to criminal syndicates running phone scams that target Canadians. But before any of those cases made it to trial, the Mounties disbanded the special task force
Canada |

Marketplace
As COVID surged, Indian police shut down scam centres targeting Canadians. Now, they're back
In the early days of the pandemic, scam centres were shut down. But now they're back in full swing, with scammers posing as tax officials and bank employees, convincing unsuspecting Canadians to pay up or risk serious consequences.
Marketplace |

Marketplace
How we got inside an overseas tech support scam targeting Canadians
It's called the tech support scam, a scheme in which fraudsters want you to pay them to fix a non-existent computer or smartphone issue. Marketplace's efforts to locate those behind it spanned months, ending in a late-night dash up three flights of stairs into a call centre in Mumbai.
World |

MARKETPLACE
RCMP probe of international CRA phone scam IDs Canadian suspects
You've probably got the call: An automated message threatens you with arrest over unpaid taxes owed to Canada Revenue Agency. Now the RCMP says it is tracking suspects in Canada and India as part of a 'national priority investigation' into the scam.
Canada |
MARKETPLACE
Social engineering is the new method of choice for hackers. Here's how it works.
Is your name and your phone number all it takes for a hacker to take over your cellphone account? Marketplace's latest investigation has found that just a few pieces of personal information could leave you vulnerable.
Science |
Marketplace
'A handful of little carnations': Customers complain Bloomex's bouquets don't always arrive as advertised
Bloomex bills itself as 'Canada's official florist,' delivering millions of bouquets across the country to date. But is what you see really what you get when ordering flowers online?
Canada |

Marketplace
As RCMP raids target India over CRA phone scam, possible Canadian collaborators have reason to be nervous
Recent raids in India to scoop up those involved in a phone scam targeting Canadian taxpayers netted dozens of arrests, but the RCMP said Wednesday that there could be Canadians involved in the fraud, which aims to dupe people into thinking they owe money to the CRA.
Politics |