RBC poll points to rising impact of fraud during pandemic, as well as top schemes to watch out for in 2022
During the height of the pandemic, Canadians felt the effects of a rise in fraud efforts, and a new survey from RBC highlights the continuing fallout from that trend.
In the recent RBC's 2022 Fraud Prevention Month Poll, 48% of respondents claimed fraudsters have targeted them more frequently since the pandemic began.
That number marks a 26 percentage-point increase since 2021, when 22% of respondents said they were targeted by scammers, indicating that Canadians are two times as likely to feel as if they’re being scammed.
According to the report, 54% say it is more difficult than ever to detect when an email, text, or online ad is a scam, and 47% believe they have been increasingly targeted by scammers posing as well-known companies.
One-third or 33% of those polled revealed they know family members or close acquaintances who have been scammed online in the last year.
Kevin Purkiss, Vice-President for Fraud Management at RBC, said, "It's important to recognize that anyone can fall victim to fraud. Our research shows that 18% of respondents said if they were a victim of fraud they would be too embarrassed to tell anyone.”
And it's not just the number of fraud attempts that are on the rise; the quantity of money lost to fraud is also climbing.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) reported fraud losses in 2021 reached $379 million, up from $160 million in 2020. Investment scams are at the top of the list when it comes to financial losses.
"We're seeing more sophistication and creativity in how scams are carried out," Purkiss said. "And there is an increase in attempts to convince clients to send money across secure payment channels such as Interac e-Transfer transactions and wire payments, as well as with fraudsters pretending to be from government agencies offering COVID-related support."
Purkiss adds that RBC also provides clients with a team of fraud experts that work around the clock, in collaboration with industry associations, government agencies, and law enforcement, to help prevent, identify, and investigate fraud.
Some of the scams to watch out for this year, according to participants in RBC’s poll, are:
- Phising or the use of an email or text message to trick the recipient into divulging personal information (identified by 70% of respondents);
- Spear Phising or using readily available target information to tailor the scammer’s phising attacks (71%);
- Fake courier or delivery scams (62%);
- Online shopping scams (68%); and
- Investment or cryptocurrency scams (59%).
