The most digitally savvy generation is now falling for online financial scams at a higher clip than their grandparents.
Driving the news: Canadians aged 18 to 24 fell for a record number of investment scams last year, and, for the first time ever, were victimized at a higher rate than senior citizens. The schemes range from fake investment endorsements to scammers impersonating bank employees.
- Many of the scams are heavily promoted on social media and often involve buying cryptocurrency.
- Overall, Canadians lost somewhere in the range of $6-$12 billion to scams last year, with AI making them increasingly difficult to detect.
Why it matters: The rise in scam victims is a symptom of the unhappy economic reality that many young Canadians face. As experts point out, financial desperation is the driving factor behind these scams' success.
- Youth unemployment hit a 27-year high in August, young people have the highest rate of credit-card delinquency of any age cohort, and many have been priced out of the housing market — a historically safe investment that’s now a non-starter for most.
Zoom out: In September, a group of 50 organizations launched a coalition to crack down on scams in Canada, with the Big Six banks, Rogers, Bell, Telus, Google, and Meta all on board. By working together, the companies say they can do a better job of tackling new schemes before they reach Canadians.—LA