More than half of Canadians say they are targeted by scams each month, says survey

More than three-quarters of Canadians (77 percent) have been targeted by phone, email, text or skimming scams at least once, according to a new survey commission by CIBC.

Further, CIBC’s survey found that 56 percent of Canadians say they experienced a scam attempt at least once a month.

For that reason, 85 percent of respondents said they consider financial fraud “a fact of life in the age of digital information.”

According to the survey, the most common types of financial fraud are, in order:

1. Email fraud — experienced by 70 percent of surveyed Canadians
2. Phone fraud — experienced by 42 percent of surveyed Canadians
3. Text fraud — experienced by 37 percent of surveyed Canadians
4. Device-based fraud — experienced by 14 percent of surveyed Canadians

Canadians are advised to sign up for fraud alerts with their respective banks; CIBC, TD, RBC, Scotiabank and the like all offer resources on how to protect against fraud.

CIBC says some of the best practices to avoid scams include never sharing personal information like PINs, using unique passwords (and changing them often) and regularly checking bank statements to ensure all activity is legitimate.

“Awareness is the first step to fraud prevention,” said Norah McCarthy, senior vice president of retail transaction fraud and client account management at CIBC, in a press statement. “Our poll results show that constant vigilance is the best way to protect yourself. Fraud comes in many forms and can have serious consequences if you don’t take steps to protect yourself. Protecting yourself begins with recognizing and reporting fraud when you see it.”

CIBC conducted the online survey between February 16th and 18th, 2018 among 1,515 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panellists.

The survey is part of CIBC’s efforts related to National Fraud Prevention Month, which aims to raise awareness about ways that consumers can recognize, reject and report fraud.

Image credit: Flickr — Blue Coat Photos

Source: Canada Newswire