Sep 2, 2026
Nine in 10 Canadians say they can spot a scam. But confidence isn’t protection, and the gap between the two is costing billions.
A recent TD Bank Group survey found 89% of Canadians feel confident in their ability to identify fraud, even as 46% say they encounter scam attempts weekly or daily. Nearly one in four say they or a family member has been a victim of financial fraud or a scam in the past year. Meanwhile, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says Canadians have reported losing more than $2.4 billion to fraud since 2022, including over $704 million in 2025 alone — and that’s likely only a fraction of the real toll, since just 5% to 10% of frauds are ever reported.
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The takeaway isn’t that Canadians are careless. It’s that feeling prepared and being prepared aren’t the same thing, and scammers are counting on the difference.
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Why doesn’t knowing the warning signs stop the losses?
Fraud awareness campaigns have made most Canadians familiar with the classic red flags: urgency, threats, offers that seem too good to be true. But knowing the warning signs doesn’t guarantee anyone catches a scam in the moment, especially one built around real, stolen personal details.
“Confidence can be a double-edged sword when it comes to fraud prevention,” Tarundeep Dhot, TD’s vice-president of fraud management, said in a statement. Overconfidence, he noted, can lead to quick decisions and overlooked red flags scammers rely on.
The same survey found more than half of Canadians (52%) admit to risky habits, including using public Wi-Fi to access financial accounts, clicking links before verifying the sender or opening attachments from unknown senders. Gen Z respondents, despite being the most confident generation, were also the most likely to take these risks.
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What should Canadians do instead of trusting their gut?
If judgment alone isn’t reliable, the fix is a habit that doesn’t depend on catching a scam mid-call. Financial institutions increasingly recommend a two-step rule: pause before acting on any unexpected request for money or information, then verify independently. One can do this by hanging up and calling the bank or institution back using a trusted number, not one the caller provides.
Two practical layers can back up that habit. TransUnion’s latest Consumer Pulse Study found that when Canadians are notified of a data breach, most take basic steps like changing a password, but far fewer sign up for credit monitoring (20%) or place a credit freeze (19%). A freeze restricts who can access your credit file, making it harder for someone to open new credit in your name.
Where can Canadians freeze their credit right now?
Quebec residents have had free access to credit freezes with Equifax and TransUnion since 2023. Ontario residents gained the same right on July 1, 2026. British Columbia has passed legislation, but it isn’t expected to take effect until August 2027.
Multi-factor authentication is another low-cost layer. TransUnion found only 24% of Canadians recently added it or switched to passwordless login, even though it’s one of the more effective ways to block account takeovers once a password is exposed.
None of the aforementioned steps and precautions require spotting a scam in real time. That’s the point. Fraud prevention that depends on catching every attempt will eventually fail — and even one lapse can be costly. Over the past several years, those lapses have cost Canadians $2.4 billion and counting.
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
