Canadians expected to lose more than $569 million to scams in 2024

Financial criminals targeting fewer consumers while increasing profits

TORONTO, Oct. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2024, Canadian banks have seen just 34% of the reported fraud cases they experienced a year ago. And yet, Canadian retail banking customers appear on pace to lose as much as or more than the $569 million they lost to fraud in 2023 (triple what they lost in 2021). BioCatch – the global leader in digital fraud detection and financial crime prevention powered by behavioral biometric intelligence – says these findings suggest fraudsters have altered their strategies, honing attacks to target fewer Canadians for more money per scam.

"While fraud volumes have decreased significantly over the last year, we're observing an increase in the average value of these cases," BioCatch Director of Global Fraud Intelligence Tom Peacock said. "We can attribute much of this to the rise in social engineering scams in Canada, particularly impersonation scams, which are notoriously higher value than other fraud types. More than 70% of impersonation scam losses in Canada originate from five-figure cases, greatly boosting the country's scam-loss average."

BioCatch's 2024 Digital Banking Fraud Trends in Canada report, also highlights that most Canadian fraud victims are now ages 20-49 instead of 50-89, debunking the common misconception that older people provide easier and more lucrative targets.

"Artificial Intelligence is super-charging fraud," BioCatch Global Advisory Director Seth Ruden said, "compounding its impact, and allowing bad actors to scale and sophisticate their scams with deepfakes and other devices. As the industry deploys the newest authentication methods in both account opening and account takeover processes, fraudsters will undoubtedly attack these as well."

BioCatch also found one in seven scam sessions in Canada showed signs of remote access trojans (RAT), whether active RAT (where the fraudster tricks the victim into granting them control of the session so they can execute the fraud themselves) or passive RAT (where the fraudster guides the victim through payment process).

Click here to access BioCatch's complete 2024 Digital Banking Fraud Trends in Canada report.

BioCatch fraud prevention experts Tom Peacock and Seth Ruden will hold a live conversation about the growth of social engineering scams in Canada and the other latest fraud trends in the country on Nov. 14. To register for that exclusive session, click here.

About BioCatch:

BioCatch stands at the forefront of digital fraud detection, pioneering behavioral biometric intelligence grounded in advanced cognitive science and machine learning. BioCatch analyzes thousands of user interactions to support a digital banking environment where identity, trust, and ease coexist. Today, 32 of the world's largest 100 banks and 210 total financial institutions rely on BioCatch Connect™ to combat fraud, facilitate digital transformation, and grow customer relationships. BioCatch's Client Innovation Board – an industry-led initiative featuring American Express, Barclays, Citi Ventures, HSBC, and National Australia Bank – collaborates to pioneer creative and innovative ways to leverage customer relationships for fraud prevention. With more than a decade of data analysis, 92 registered patents, and unmatched expertise, BioCatch continues to lead innovation to address future challenges. For more information, please visit www.biocatch.com.

PR contact:

Mac King
BioCatch senior comms manager
Mac.King@BioCatch.com

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