Phone bank fraud is rising in Canada. How to protect yourself from being scammed

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has received an increasing number of reports of scam phone calls and texts from fraudsters claiming to be from a financial institution.

Do you frequently get suspicious texts and calls about your bank account being compromised or notifications about unauthorized charges on your credit card? You’re not alone.

Bank fraud is on the rise in Canada and scammers are now using new ways over the phone to spoof Canadians.

This year, as of Sept. 30, there have been 2,769 reports of phone calls from fraudsters claiming to be from a financial institution, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). That number is up from 2,212 reports in 2021 and 1,147 the year before, according to data shared with Global News this week.

The number of bank-related phishing text messages reported to the CAFC has also increased in 2022, with 543 reports affecting 219 Canadians, compared with 394 reports last year and 347 in 2020. But that number could be much higher because the agency estimates that less than five per cent of phishing scams are actually reported to the CAFC.

Text spamming is becoming common as the scammers are getting smarter and more efficient, said Daniel Tsai, a lecturer in law, business and technology at the University of Toronto.

“It basically looks like a legitimate text coming from your bank when in fact it’s a spoof (but) it looks authentic,” he said. “So a lot of people who are not sophisticated may not recognize that it’s a scam.”

Sometimes, it can be hard to differentiate between a scam and legitimate bank correspondence, but there are a number of red flags.

Criminals may use caller ID spoofing to display the number of a financial institution. These calls are often an automated voice message, but sometimes they might also attempt to have a conversation with you.