By Canadian Immigrant Magazine |
Did you know that March is Fraud Awareness Month in Canada? This is an opportunity to highlight the importance for Canadians to recognize, reject and report fraud.
Statistics from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canada’s central repository for information about fraud, finds that, in 2019 alone, Canadians lost over $98 million to fraud. The Centre estimates that Canadians have only reported approximately 5% of fraud cases to the authorities. This means that the actual impact of fraud is probably even larger than the numbers suggest!
Newcomers advised to take special precautions
According to a TD Fraud Survey released in time for Fraud Prevention Month, a majority of Canadians believe social isolation and major life changes increase Canadians’ vulnerability to financial fraud.
Immigrating to a new country is a major life change. In addition, newcomers and immigrants often face social isolation during the first few years since this move often leaves them without social networks or connections in communities, making them more vulnerable to fraud.
The TD Fraud Survey also provides a portrait on Canadians’ vulnerability to fraud. The survey states that while fraudsters continue to target Canadians of all ages and life stages, almost half of the survey respondents (44%) stated that they have been the target of attempted fraud in the past year. According to the survey, newcomers to Canada who are unfamiliar with Canadian banking, tax or legal practices could be particularly at risk. The survey revealed that 35% of Canadians believe moving to Canada from another country may lead to increased susceptibility to fraud attacks like the CRA scam.
The CRA scam refers to scammers pretending to be Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees who often contact Canadians to trick them into paying fake debts.