Nearly 15% of Canadians have experienced payment fraud in just the past six months, new data suggests, prompting concern about the risk of cyber finance.
Worry over fraud and cyber risk “impacts payment behaviours and creates hesitation around paying bills out of concern if they are legitimate or a potential scam,” according to Payments Canada, which published the results of a survey conducted by Leger.
Payments Canada, which provides infrastructure where payments are cleared and settled between financial institutions, says one-third of Canadians struggle to decipher whether payment-related communications they receive by telephone or email are legitimate versus a potential scam.
It’s a reasonable concern. Unauthorized transactions, impersonators, and credit card fraud are the top three types of fraud, the fintech notes. For example, nearly 40% of Canadians have experienced unauthorized transactions appearing on a bank or credit card statement.
While older Canadians are more often in the spotlight with regards to vulnerability in the cyber realm, Payments Canada reports that young Canadians were “significantly more likely than middle-aged and older Canadians to have recently experienced authorized push payment fraud,” which refers to situations in which criminals manipulate victims into making payments or sharing personal details under false pretences.
“Often, fraudsters pose as a well-known, legitimate business or government body to win a victim’s trust,” according to Payments Canada. “Since young Canadians are more likely to send/receive money to/from a friend or family member using social media platforms and regularly use other electronic payment methods besides credit cards and prepaid cards . . . their overall risk exposure for push payment fraud is higher.”
Payments Canada recommends Canadians limit information sharing, leverage two-step authentication, and only shop on trusted sites when buying online, among other precautions.
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