Nearly half of Gen Z has fallen prey to online scams, research shows

WATCH: Financial fraud is widespread in Sask. Carla Shynkaruk explains why talking about it may be one of the best ways to defend yourself.

New research reveals just how common financial fraud has become in Canada, and why talking about it may be one of the best defenses.

One third of people in Saskatchewan have been victimized by financial fraudsters in the past year, according to data from TD Bank — and it’s not just seniors who are falling prey to the scams.

The research found that Gen Z is one of the main demographics being targeted.

“Forty-five per cent of them (Gen Z) having been victimized by scammers, far more than millennials at 34 per cent, or gen-X at 26 per cent” Sophia Leung, executive director of TD Bank’s protection platform told CTV News.

Leung says that’s because members of Gen Z — those born between 1997 and 2012 — don’t discuss it.

“So, while they are most frequent targets, they also shy away from talking about it and being educated,” Leung said.

That data shows:

• 62 % Would feel like less of a target if fraud and scams were discussed at home
• 39 % Say talking to family helped them avoid becoming a victim.

Data from TD Bank

The Saskatoon Police Service’s economic crime unit saw 2,000 cases reported last year with a constant increase in this type of crime in recent years. There’s one scam that the seven staff in the economic crime unit are seeing a lot now.

“Cryptocurrency, especially investment scams and, those are very high value files, usually. Those are hard. We can trace them, but they’ll often lead to anonymous dead ends,” said Matthew Bradford, economic crime investigator with the Saskatoon police.

Many are traced to Ontario or Quebec.

“From there, those people might not necessarily be the fraudsters. They might be what we call money mules. So they’re people that take in the fraudulent funds. They’re the people at risk of being charged by law enforcement, but then they transfer the funds onward,” he says.

CTV News spoke to a number of Saskatoon residents who are still seeing some classic email or cell phone scams but are pretty savvy at detecting them.

“I always say, like, ‘I don’t know why you’re calling me because I should only be calling you,’” Kelly Macsymic said.

“I got good protection. I got good security and good passwords,” Tom Roy told CTV News.

The TD research doesn’t reflect that confidence.

Fifty-five per cent of people in Saskatchewan feel vulnerable to fraud, while only 14 per cent feel highly confident in their ability to identify scams.

Experts advise against engaging with anyone you don’t know online or on the phone and just hang up or delete the email to avoid a follow up interaction.

“Trust less, verify more, a little bit in that situation,” Leung said.

Police suggest calling your bank first if the scam involves a credit card or bank information — as there’s protection in place to get money back, in some cases.