As Canadian winter settles in, scammers are heating up their efforts. Last week, I visited a community center in Scarborough where seniors gathered to share increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts targeting their savings.
“They knew my grandson’s name and sounded just like him,” explained Marianne Kowalski, 72, fighting tears as she described nearly sending $3,000 to someone impersonating her family member. “If my neighbor hadn’t stopped by, I would have lost everything.“
Her story isn’t unusual. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reports Canadians lost over $530 million to scams in 2024, with projections showing 2025 could be worse as artificial intelligence makes scams more convincing.
I sat down with three experts to gather practical advice for Canadians hoping to protect themselves in this evolving landscape.
“What’s changed dramatically is how personalized these attacks have become,” explains Darren Yung, cybersecurity specialist with the RCMP’s digital crime unit. “Scammers now harvest information from social media and data breaches to craft messages that feel legitimate and urgent.”
Yung’s first essential tip: Create a verification system with family members. “Establish code phrases or personal questions only real family would know. When someone claims to be your loved one in distress, test them.”
The most common scams targeting Canadians continue to evolve from familiar templates. Revenue Canada scams now feature AI-generated voice clones of government officials. Romance scams incorporate deepfake video calls. Investment frauds utilize sophisticated fake websites mirroring legitimate financial institutions.
Financial security expert Priya Sharma from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada emphasizes delayed action as the best defense.
“Legitimate organizations never demand immediate payment or threaten immediate consequences,” Sharma notes. “When pressed to act quickly, that’s your red flag. Tell them you’ll call back through the official number you find independently.”
Sharma recalls a client who received an urgent text about a $2,800 purchase allegedly made on their credit card. The message included a link to “verify” the transaction. Instead of clicking, they called their bank directly and discovered the message was fraudulent.
“That pause saved them from potential identity theft,” she explains. “Twenty seconds of verification prevented what could have been months of financial recovery.”
This advice resonates with what I heard at Toronto’s Fraud Prevention Forum last month. Nearly every victim described feeling rushed into decisions they later regretted.
Technology expert Marcus Chen from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority offers the third critical strategy: regularly update your digital hygiene.
“Most Canadians use the same password across multiple sites or haven’t updated their security settings in years,” Chen explains. “When one company experiences a data breach, scammers test those credentials everywhere.”
Chen recommends a quarterly digital security review: update passwords, check which apps have access to your accounts, review privacy settings on social platforms, and ensure two-factor authentication is enabled on financial services.
“Think of it like changing your smoke detector batteries,” Chen suggests. “It takes minutes but provides months of protection.”
The changing landscape of fraud means traditional advice needs updating. While older Canadians remain vulnerable, younger demographics increasingly face sophisticated scams targeting digital wallets and investment opportunities.
Surveys from Statistics Canada reveal 18-34 year olds lost more money to cryptocurrency and investment scams than any other age group last year, challenging stereotypes about who falls victim.
Provincial governments have noticed the trend. Ontario recently launched its “Pause Before You Pay” campaign, while British Columbia’s consumer protection agency created a fraud assessment tool that has been adopted in Manitoba and Nova Scotia.
For those who do fall victim, experts emphasize quick action. Contact your financial institutions immediately, report to local police, and file with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Many Canadians don’t realize banks may offer compensation if fraud is reported promptly.
What struck me throughout these conversations was how scammers exploit fundamental human traits: trust in authority, desire to help family, fear of missing opportunities, and anxiety about legal trouble.
As I left Marianne’s community center, she shared that her neighborhood now holds monthly “scam awareness coffees” where residents share recent attempts. This community vigilance has already prevented three potential frauds.
“We’re stronger together,” Marianne told me. “The scammers count on us being isolated and afraid to admit we’ve been targeted.”
Perhaps that’s the fourth and most important tip: share your experiences. The conversation that saves someone’s savings might happen over coffee with a neighbor or a quick text to a family member about that strange call you just received.
In a digital world designed to isolate us, our strongest defense remains our connections to each other.
