Fraud and identity theft is as real as you are

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

Canadians are encouraged by the countries leading credit agency Equifax to pay very close attention to their credit scores and history as well as to look out for things that are not in sync with their financial practices online and elsewhere.

The agency reports that some Canadians are feeling overconfident about their credit vulnerability and are not checking their credit scores in a timely fashion to detect financial fraud nation-wide.

A recent consumer survey conducted by Equifax revealed that only 29% of survey respondents checked their credit report as a means to help protect their personal data over the last 12 months, and only 38% indicated they would report fraud to a credit bureau. Equifax warns anyone concerned about fraud and identity theft to place an identity alert or fraud warning on their credit file, which may help to prevent future fraudulent use of their identity.

While most agree that fraud and identity theft is a serious issue, the level of vigilance is lower than previous surveys conducted in 2017 (80%) as well as 2019 (72%).

As for people who use public Wi-Fi, and ATMs the percentage of those feeling vulnerable lowered to 44% today versus 60% in 2017 and 59% in 2019.  At home, only 27% of survey respondents said they felt vulnerable today versus 37% in 2019 and 33% in 2017. In-store revealed a similar result with 25% saying they felt vulnerable today compared to 38% in 2019 and 2017.

Julie Kuzmic (Director of  Consumer Advocacy Equifax Canada) said, “Hackers, fraudsters and identity thieves are always on the hunt to get your personal information, we can’t be complacent about this and one of the best ways to spot identity theft is by checking credit reports for unrecognized activities, which may provide an indication that someone has been applying for credit in your name or fraudulently accessing your accounts. I’m particularly concerned for younger adults who may be misguided in some of their beliefs and actions surrounding identity theft.”

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), which tracks all types of fraud has estimated that the cost of mass marketing fraud to be around $130 million reported by consumers annually, and this represents approximately a 30% increase from 2017.

“More and more fraudsters are not only seeking access to victims’ hard-earned money but also their personal information,” said Jeff Thomson, a senior RCMP intelligence analyst with the CAFC. “While data breaches and phishing emails still remain the top reported attack methods, Canadians also need to remain diligent to not provide personal or financial information to unknown callers.”

Even time does not change much how thieves operate. In a survey done a decade ago by Ipsos polls, Canadian were asked where they felt most at risk of being victims of identity theft, neither online nor real world took precedent over the other. However, online purchasing was believed to be the most dangerous way to shop by 80% of those polled, followed by: gas stations at 78% , social networking sites 74%, restaurants 71% and retail stores 76% rounded out the areas most perceived as risks for identity theft. Places in which respondents spent most of their time, such as home, work, and school, were generally perceived as `safe’ from this type of crime. (Ipsos.com, Most Canadians Perceive Risk Identity Theft)

Based on the facts presented, there is no question that this type of activity is real. One would like to think that is it better to check and be safe, than not check and be very sorry.