Apr 8, 2026
Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars vanish from Canadian wallets — not through bad investments or overspending — but through fraud. And yet one of the most effective defences against it is hiding in plain sight: the way you use your credit cards.
Kevin O’Leary, the Canadian entrepreneur, investor and star of Shark Tank, says the solution is straightforward. He recommends what he calls a dual credit card strategy — and it requires nothing more than the cards you likely already have (or could easily get).
O’Leary’s 2-card strategy: Limit your exposure online
“I recommend everybody have at least two credit cards,” O’Leary said in a video posted to his official YouTube channel. “The first credit card is one that has a very low limit — let’s say $2,000. And that’s the number you use on all the online services.”
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The logic is simple. If that card’s details are stolen in a data breach or phishing scam, the damage is capped. “If they get hacked, nobody can spend more than $2,000. That’s how you protect yourself,” he said.
O’Leary’s second card, by contrast, is reserved for in-person purchases — at restaurants, retailers or service providers — where the physical presence of the card offers a layer of protection. Because that card’s details never travel across the internet, he argues it can safely carry a higher limit for bigger everyday purchases.
The separation of online and offline spending not only has the potential to reduce financial risk, it also makes tracking and managing expenses far easier.
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Why this matters for Canadians right now
Fraud is no longer a niche concern. In 2024, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) — a joint initiative of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Competition Bureau of Canada and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) — received 108,878 fraud reports, with losses topping $638 million (1) — up from $531 million the year before. And those numbers almost certainly understate the problem: the CAFC estimates that 90% to 95% of fraud incidents go unreported (2).
According to a 2024 study by Payments Canada, 1 in 10 Canadians experienced payment fraud in the just six months prior to the survey, with unauthorized transactions (38%) and impersonator contact (34%) being the most common types (3). Among those who experienced payment fraud, 59% lost money.
Card-not-present (CNP) fraud — the kind that happens when your card details are used online without the physical card being present — is the single biggest category of credit card fraud in Canada. Meanwhile, Equifax Canada found that more than 68.5% of all fraudulent credit applications in Canada involved identity theft in 2023 (4).
The scale of fraud on a global scale is staggering to say the least. The Nilson Report, the leading trade publication covering the global payment card industry, projects that global payment card fraud losses will cumulatively reach US$403.88 billion (C$578 billion) over the next 10 years (5). While the U.S. bears a disproportionate share of that burden — accounting for about 42% of global fraud losses despite representing only 26% of card volume — Canada is far from immune.
TransUnion Canada’s 2024 State of Omnichannel Fraud Report found that the rate of suspected digital fraud originating from Canada grew 39% year-over-year in 2023, making the nation one of the fastest-growing targets for digital fraud globally (6). The RCMP identifies card-not-present fraud as one of the fastest-growing types of fraud in Canada.
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Additionally, According to a 2024 Government of Canada survey, 36% of Canadians said they had been victims of unauthorized use of bank or credit card numbers — up from 18% in 2019 (7).
Online fraud isn’t the only risk
While O’Leary’s strategy focuses heavily on the online-versus-offline divide, it’s important for Canadians to know that in-store purchases aren’t without risk either.
Physical card fraud can occur when your card falls into the wrong hands, or when you unknowingly swipe it at an automated teller machine (ATM) fitted with a skimmer — a device designed to capture your card information invisibly.
Large retailers have also been targets of sophisticated attacks on their payment terminals. The 2014 breach at Home Depot — which has over 180 stores across Canada — compromised an estimated 56 million credit and debit cards at payment terminals over a five-month period. The breach affected customers on both sides of the border (8).
What Canadian consumer protections exist?
One thing to note: Canadian cardholders do benefit from strong consumer protections. Under rules set by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), you aren’t liable for unauthorized transactions on your credit card, provided you promptly report the fraud and didn’t negligently share your PIN or card details. Most major Canadian banks also have zero-liability policies for credit card fraud.
That said, the time and stress involved in disputing fraudulent charges can be significant — making prevention a far better strategy than relying on recovery.
How to put O’Leary’s strategy to work in Canada
Applying a dual-card strategy in Canada is straightforward. Here are a few practical considerations:
- Choose a low-limit card for online use. Many Canadian banks and credit unions will adjust your credit limit on request. A limit of $1,000 to $2,000 on a dedicated online card is often enough to cover subscriptions, e-commerce and digital services.
- Look for no-fee options. Many Canadian no-fee credit cards offer solid fraud protection without annual fees, making it cost-effective to maintain a second card for online use only.
- Keep your high-limit card for in-person spending. This card should be used at point-of-sale terminals, where chip-and-PIN technology offers stronger fraud protection. Never enter this card’s details online.
- Monitor both cards regularly. The FCAC recommends checking your statements frequently and setting up transaction alerts through your bank’s mobile app.
- Enable two-factor authentication. Sixty-five per cent of Canadians now use two-step authentication (2FA) to protect their accounts — up from 50% in 2021, according to Payments Canada (9). If you haven’t yet set up 2FA, do so immediately on any account linked to a credit card.
Canadian next steps: Protect your finances from credit card fraud
O’Leary’s two-card strategy is a smart starting point, but protecting yourself in Canada’s evolving fraud landscape requires a few additional steps:
- Report fraud immediately. If you suspect fraud, contact your credit card issuer right away. You can also report incidents to the CAFC online at antifraudcentre.ca or by calling 1-888-495-8501.
- Check your credit report. Canadians are entitled to a free credit report from Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. Reviewing your report regularly can help catch fraudulent accounts opened in your name.
- Be cautious with card-not-present transactions. Since CNP fraud is the dominant form of credit card fraud in Canada, think carefully before entering card details on unfamiliar websites. Look for the padlock icon in the browser bar and “https” in the URL before completing any purchase.
- Consider a credit monitoring service. Several Canadian banks and third-party providers offer credit monitoring that alerts you to changes in your credit file — a useful early-warning system for identity theft.
- Freeze your credit if needed. If you believe your identity has been compromised, you can place a fraud alert or security freeze on your credit file with both Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
CAFC (1, 2); Payments Canada (3, 9); Equifax Canada (4); Global Newswire (5); Huntress (6); TransUnion Canada (6); Government of Canada (7); Huntress (8)
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Jing is an investment reporter for Money.ca. Prior to joining the team, Jing was a research analyst and editor at one of the leading financial publishing companies in North America. Jing has covered numerous aspects of the financial markets, from blue chip dividend stocks to small cap tech stocks to precious metals and currency. An avid advocate of investing for passive income, he wrote a monthly dividend stock newsletter for the better half of the past decade. In his spare time, Jing plays basketball, the violin and the ukulele.
