OTTAWA: A new report indicates a significant rise in financial fraud in Canada. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) announced that Canadian citizens have lost more than $638 million to fraud in 2024 alone. The number of reported cases has doubled over the past decade. The CAFC also states that the cases reported account for only 5 to 10 percent of the total frauds.
The fastest-growing type of fraud is impersonation, where scammers pretend to be bank representatives or officials from other institutions to swindle money from individuals. Technology expert Carmi Levy noted that with the help of artificial intelligence, these scams are becoming more widespread.
In many of these fraud cases, banks do not reimburse customers for their losses. Therefore, experts are urging financial institutions to better educate their customers and adopt more effective measures to prevent fraud.
