How to help protect your loved ones from senior scams + MORE May 27th

Aeroplan is once again offering 5x points for shopping online with Apple! This works for eligible online purchases made via the Aeroplan eStore for delivery to your home or office or even if you choose to pick up in store. Personally, the latter is how I typically do my Apple purchases, buy online and pick […]
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This is part of a series of columns about how to protect important information and people in your life against fraud and scams. Stay tuned for more.

It’s fair to say today’s Canadian seniors grew up in a more courteous time. But their reflexive politeness makes them uniquely vulnerable to digital fraud and identity theft, say fraud experts.

“I’ve seen a lot of cases where, particularly in the senior cohort, they’re worrying about appearing to be rude,” says Julie Kuzmic, senior compliance officer, consumer advocacy with credit bureau Equifax Canada.

How senior scams work

Seniors might receive a phone call, email or text message claiming to be from their bank or another organization with which they hold an account. The caller or sender will usually add some urgency to the request, saying the senior’s account will be closed or their service cut if they don’t act quickly. Or the targeted person might get a message that looks like it’s from a relative who’s in another country, saying they’ve suffered a misfortune—such as an accident or arrest—and need money right away…

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In 2024, Canadians lost a jaw-dropping $638 million to fraud, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). That’s already a hefty $60 million more than losses reported the previous year, but the true total is likely much, much higher—experts at the CAFC say that less than 5% of scams are ever reported.

What we do know, however, is the type of fraud reported most often in Canada in 2024: identity fraud. To pull this off, criminals use phishing scams and other ruses to trick Canadians into revealing personal and financial information. Depending on what they find out, scammers could impersonate you, charge purchases to your credit card, apply for a loan and/or mortgage in your name, drain your bank accounts and more.

Scams are becoming harder to identify. Some fraudsters now use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create highly convincing audio and video “deepfakes” using Canadians’ voices and faces. AI tools are also helping criminals target exponentially more people at once, making scams harder to avoid…