There was nearly $400 million lost to frauds investigated by Toronto police last year but the real number could be 10 to 20 times higher due to the “shame and embarrassment” of reporting scams, a detective with the Financial Crimes Unit says.
Det. David Coffey spoke at Toronto Police Service headquarters on Tuesday as part of Fraud Prevention Month.
Coffey said that in 2024 there were over 17,000 reports of fraud investigated by Toronto police, resulting in a combined loss of $368 million.
Coffey said that online investment scams alone accounted for a loss of $71.2 million in Toronto.
Other common scams like account takeovers ($36.1 million), confidence scams ($34.5 million), cryptocurrency scams ($32.8 million) and identity theft ($16.4 million) rounded out a Toronto police list of the top five “most financially damaging frauds” that was released Wednesday.
“Over a trillion dollars was lost to fraud [globally] in 2024 and whatever estimates we have multiply them by 20 because that is probably closer to the actual number,” Coffey said. “There is a lot of shame, there is a lot of embarrassment. If it is a senior that has been targeted they may be reluctant to tell their family, spouses may be afraid to tell their spouses. There is all kinds of reasons that people may be reluctant to come to police to make a report.”
Coffey said that investment scams usually start out as individuals or businesses reaching out to people and posing as investment firms with low risk. He said that the scam can also start off as a romance scam, where the pretense of romantic pursuit is used to build trust. The scammer may show fake profits to lead to more investment, he said. Once the victim has given larger sums of money, the scammer cuts off contact.
Coffey emphasized that scammers continue to get more sophisticated, which makes it more difficult to prevent.
Coffey also conceded that there is limited success with getting money back for fraud victims. The OPP started Project Atlas in 2024, which is meant to help victims recover stolen funds. However, recovering digital funds such as cryptocurrency is a big hurdle and the limited ability to do so is “eroding trust” between the public and law enforcement, Coffey said.
“The challenges of recovering [funds] are substantial,” he said. “Fraud is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the advancement of technology…When technology advances fraudsters are the first to capitalize.”
While seniors are heavily targeted, Coffey also emphasized that anyone can be a victim of fraud. He said one of the biggest red flags to watch for is the sense of urgency many fraudsters rely on.
“Buy these now, they’re only available for the next two hours… They are trying to stop you from thinking and second guessing,” he said.
