New research by Payments Canada has revealed that unauthorized transactions and impersonator contact are the two most frequent types of payment fraud, while more than one in 10 Canadians have experienced payment fraud in the past six months.
The study, conducted among 1,200 Canadians, found that the threat from fraud has caused consumers to change their payment behaviours, including putting off paying bills, out of concern about their legitimacy or in the belief they are a potential scam.
The payment preferences and behaviours of 54% of Canadians, including who, how and where they choose to transact, has been affected by the prevalence of fraud and cyber incidents, according to Payments Canada.
Of those surveyed, 32% struggle to identify the legitimacy of payment-related communications they receive by telephone or email, while 22% feel they are at risk of missing their bill payments because they avoid responding to payment-related communications, due to concerns that they could be potential scams.
At 38%, unauthorized transactions appearing on a bank or credit card statement are the most popular fraud type, the research revealed, followed by impersonator contact (34%), where an individual is contacted by someone via email, telephone, SMS text or social media pretending to be someone else.
The third most common type of payment fraud (18%) is stolen credit card information, resulting in an unauthorized purchase.
Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 are most likely to have fallen victim to authorized push payment fraud, at 29%, compared to just 2% of those aged 35 to 54-years-old, and only 6% of over 55s.
APP fraud depends on the victim to transfer money voluntarily, in instances where fraudsters have typically posed as a legitimate business or government body.
Among those who have experienced payment fraud in the past six months, 59% reported loss of money, with 46% having lost $500 or less and 13% losing more than $500 to fraudsters. While 37% had no money stolen, the fraud did result in stolen personal financial data.
In April, Payments Canada announced the resumption of the final part of the Real-Time Rail build, its instant payment system.
CGI, IBM Canada and Interac will support the delivery and operation of the RTR.
Download the Open Banking Expo ‘Rising to the Fraud Challenge 2024’ report, in association with Bottomline, here.
