“We see cases of fraud in all our communities, even the smallest ones… It’s everywhere and it can happen to anyone.”

The idea of being taken in by a fraudster sounds implausible to many Canadians. Fraud is something that only happens to people who are gullible / isolated / elderly / wealthy / not technologically savvy, right? 

Dead wrong, according to Chris Lynam, Director General of the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and the National Cybercrime Coordination Unit of the RCMP. "Fraud is having real impacts on individuals, businesses and organizations. Many don't think it could happen to them but last year's jump in reported financial losses demonstrates that that's not true,” he said in a press release published by the RCMP. 

From Canadian consumers to big corporations, everyone is a potential target of fraud. Recent statistics from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) show that Canadians lost $379 million to scams and fraud in 2021. That's a 130% increase compared to 2020. And the actual impact of fraud is likely much larger. In fact, the CAFC estimates that 95% of fraud cases go unreported in Canada.

Carolin Robinson, Manager of Risk at Vision Credit Union, says people’s perception that they are immune to fraud is one of the things that make us vulnerable. Robinson, who spearheads fraud reduction initiatives at Vision, says she’s seen con artists successfully target everyone from ages 18-80.

“We see cases of fraud in all our communities, even the smallest ones… It’s everywhere and it can happen to anyone,” says Robinson. 

From romance scams to e-transfer interceptions to cheque fraud to fake rental properties, Robinson has seen it all. She wants people to know three very important things: 

1. fraud can happen to anyone,
2. if you fall prey to fraudsters, it’s not your fault, and
3. you can take steps to protect yourself.

“The people who do this are professional con artists, and they’re very good at what they do. They prey on our vulnerabilities, our hopes and the fact that we’re often too busy to monitor these things,” says Robinson. “It’s very effective.”