How you can help seniors avoid becoming victims of fraud

Financial fraud is a problem that affects millions of Canadians each year, with older Canadians increasingly becoming the target of potential fraudsters.

Many of the most common scams law enforcement officers encounter today — including the so-called “grandparent scam” — specifically target seniors.

In 2021, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC) received reports of 379 cases involving 115 victims and more than $1.7 million in losses related to grandparent fraud alone. But since the beginning of 2022, there have been 674 cases with 273 victims and $2.7 million in losses, according to the center. At the same time, the CAFC estimates that only a small fraction of victims report this type of scam out of embarrassment.

As scammers increasingly use new technologies and tactics to create more sophisticated scams, it’s important to have conversations with older friends and family members so they better understand how to spot and avoid scams.

READ: Eight things your bank would never ask you

“Seniors are often targeted by scammers because they are perceived to be wealthier and probably less savvy to navigate the Internet,” said Adrienne Vickery, associate vice president, North American Fraud Operations, Customer, Colleague & Strategic Initiatives, TD Bank group.

“It’s becoming increasingly important to keep up to date with the latest scam trends and scams, and to share your knowledge with the seniors in your life to protect each other from falling victim to scams,” she said.

Here are some tips to help start a conversation about how cheating can affect seniors:

• Learn to spot common scams: Talk to the seniors in your life about how to spot some of the most common types of scams — including love scams, investment scams, and grandparent scams. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center is a great resource for current fraud trends.
• Talk to family and friends about how to protect themselves: Give family members some helpful reminders to keep themselves safe, such as: B. Be careful not to share personal or financial information with anyone over the phone or online.
• Encourage seniors you know to keep track of their finances: Suggest signing up for online and phone banking so they can check their account activity regularly. If they have a mobile phone, suggest they sign up for SMS fraud alerts from their bank.
• Tell seniors you know it’s okay to ask for help: Remind them that it’s okay to ask a trusted friend for a second opinion if something seems weird or too good to be true.

Above all, it is important for seniors and all Canadians to shake off the stigma that comes with being scammed.

Fraud is not discriminatory – Canadians of all ages lost $379 million to scammers in 2021, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC) – and that’s just reported fraud. The CAFC estimates that less than 5% of victims have a Submit a fraud report to the agency. As of July 31, 2022, the CAFC has received 52,735 fraud reports totaling more than $284 million in losses.