July 8, 2021 – Canada has seen an increase in reports of fraud this year. So far in 2021, scam activity is showing a marked increase when compared with figures from last year.
In the first four months of 2021, there were 33,455 reports of fraud and 19,610 Canadian victims, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reports. The losses as a result of scams amount to a total of $66.7 million. Throughout 2020, the amount lost to fraud was $104.4 million.
Despite these numbers, RCMP said the number of scams and losses may actually be much higher because the reporting of cybercrime and fraud is low in Canada.
The Competition Bureau of Canada has information, including The Little Black Book of Scams, a short document with information about common scams and how to report them. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre also provides in-depth tracking and prevention information.
