Identity theft was the most commonly reported fraud in Canada in 2022

Taking advantage of March being Fraud Prevention Month, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC) has unveiled the list of the 10 most common scams in 2022 across the country.

Although the number of reports made to the CAFC fell significantly in 2022 compared to the previous year, identity theft remained the most commonly reported fraud in Canada.

The federal agency says it has received 90,377 fraud reports reporting more than $530 million in losses over the past year.

Of these, 19,499 reports were related to identity theft, which involves stealing someone else’s personal information for criminal purposes.

With 10,603 reports in 2022, phishing ranked second in the list established by the CAFC.

Criminals, who use different tactics to trick people into providing personal information or clicking on links, killed as many as 2,567 people last year.

However, the CAFC advises that scams soliciting personal information do not result in financial loss and that the majority of victims of identity fraud are not liable for fraud losses.

The Canada Revenue Agency, telecommunications companies, COVID-19 and the Canada Border Services Agency are common lures used by fraudsters.

Although far less prevalent than identity theft, investment fraud outrageously topped the financial damages column, with record losses estimated at $308.6 million in 2022.

In 2020, this type of fraud caused losses estimated at $16.5 million.

Investment scams usually aim to trick people into investing money in a dubious or simply non-existent investment.

Fraudsters also offer cryptocurrency purchases promising a high rate of return in a short time or business opportunities also promising a high return.

Dating schemes ranked second in financial losses from fraud in 2022, losses valued at no less than $59 million.

In dating schemes, the fraudster gains the trust of the victim by having a virtual relationship with them for a period of time.

The CAFC said it is seeing an increase in the number of cryptocurrency investment schemes related to dating schemes.