Gen Z less worried about fraud, survey finds, but precautions can be simple
BNN Bloomberg
The amount of money lost to fraud and scams skyrocketed in 2021, yet Canadians in Generation Z are less concerned than their older counterparts.
The amount of money lost to fraud and scams skyrocketed in 2021, yet Canadians in Generation Z are less concerned than their older counterparts.
As a result, they also take fewer preventive fraud measures — screening phone calls, closely reviewing credit card and bank statements, changing online passwords frequently and checking credit reports frequently — than older Canadians, according to a recent survey by Equifax Canada.
While most Canadians think fraud and identity theft are serious issues, those aged 18 to 24 say they’re less worried about it (75 per cent) compared with the average Canadian (90 per cent).
It's quite likely there’s a misconception among young people that because they’re young and often more technologically savvy, they’re less likely to fall for scams, said Julie Kuzmic, Equifax Canada’s senior compliance officer of consumer advocacy.
“I think there may be a bit of false confidence,” she added, given that Gen Z, like other demographics, lost a substantial amount of money to fraud in 2021.
A TD Bank survey released earlier this month reported a similar trend. Just 47 per cent of Gen Z respondents said they felt vulnerable to fraud compared with 56 per cent of millennial respondents and 52 per cent of Canadians overall.
