The IT Nerd

Financial security is top-of-mind for Canadians as scam attempts become a widespread reality across digital and telecommunications platforms. New research from Capital One Canada shows that over one-third of Canadians (34 per cent) were targeted by an unsuccessful financial scam attempt in the past 12 months, while 26 per cent were targeted by financial fraud, with consumers reporting contact across multiple channels, including phone calls (52 per cent), emails (51 per cent) and text messages (47 per cent) serving as the primary contact channels for scam attempts.

The survey suggests financial institutions play a critical role in helping Canadians respond to fraud and scams. Across all steps taken upon discovering a financial fraud or scam, consumer actions include:

• 78 per cent report it to a financial institution (with 44 per cent citing this as their very first action)
• 66 per cent change their password or PIN
• 55 per cent freeze or monitor credit cards
• 31 per cent report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Younger Canadians face higher rates of successful fraud

Canadians aged 18 to 34 are more likely to experience financial fraud (20 per cent versus 14 per cent) and successful financial scams (17 per cent versus 9 per cent) than those aged 35 and older. While fraud can occur without victim interaction, the data reveals generational gaps in identifying and taking action against deceptive scams:

• Only 70 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 34 express confidence in distinguishing between fraud and scams, compared with 81 per cent of those aged 55 and older
• Canadians aged 35 and older are consistently more likely than younger adults to take immediate protective action after discovering an incident, such as reporting it to a financial institution

The results highlight the importance of helping young adults recognize scams, particularly those encountered through social media and other digital platforms.

Growing demand for proactive, systemic prevention

Canadians increasingly view fraud prevention as a shared responsibility, calling on industry and government to intervene before threats reach their devices:

• 92 per cent expect financial institutions to do more to identify and prevent fraud
• 91 per cent expect phone service providers to take stronger action to stop fraudulent calls and text messages
• 90 per cent expect social media and telecommunications companies to step up prevention efforts

Beyond corporate action, a majority of Canadians (66 per cent) support federal legal mandates requiring technology and telecommunications companies to actively intercept and block spoofing threats before they reach consumers. This is supported by Canadians aged 35 and older (70 per cent), compared to 55 per cent of those aged 18 to 34.

To help Canadians stay informed, Capital One Canada offers scam prevention guidance, practical tips and insights on emerging tactics. You can visit the Capital One Canada Support Centre to learn more.

If you suspect you have been targeted by a scam or fraud, report it to your bank and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca to help safeguard others.

Methodology

Capital One Canada surveyed 1,622 Canadian residents aged 18 years and older from August 14 to August 17, 2026, using Leger’s LEO panel. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of 1,622 respondents yields a margin of error no greater than ±2.4%, 19 times out of 20. Results were weighted according to age, gender, mother tongue, region, education and presence of children in the household to ensure a representative sample of the Canadian population.

If facing a $350 million class action lawsuit in Ontario isn’t enough, Capital One who was pwned by a hacker recently, which in turn leaked the personal data of 100 million people including 6 million or so in Canada has been slapped with a $600 million lawsuit in Ontario.  Lawyer Vadim Kats is behind this latest suit and you can find the details here.

But that’s not all. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is investigating this. And that’s really bad news for the credit card company as The Privacy Commissioner of Canada can really make companies who are in this situation pay. And what’s interesting is that I haven’t heard of any action from the US Congress. Which is weird as we’re just entering an election cycle over there and this sort of thing is really good for US politicians to get some TV time to help their re-election chances.

What’s clear here is that Canada is taking the lead in terms of holding Capital One accountable for this. Thus I’ll be watching this closely as this is sure to evolve quickly.

The fallout over the epic Capital One data breach has begun. A class action suit has been filed by an Ontario law firm on behalf of six million or so Canadians that were affected. Total price tag: $350 million. CBC News has the details:

Diamond & Diamond’s suit seeks compensation for Canadians who applied for credit cards from Capital One between 2005 and 2019.

“This data breach could have very serious ramifications for those affected with regards to their future finances,” said Jeremy Diamond, managing partner at the firm, in a statement.

The suit’s representative plaintiff is Rina Del Guidice of Bolton, Ont., who obtained a Costco Wholesale MasterCard through Capital One.

It notes that Capital One also operated credit cards offered by other merchants including the Hudson’s Bay Co.

Darryl Singer, the firm’s lead lawyer on the suit, said in a statement that the stolen information could pose a risk to identity theft for years.

“What makes this breach so egregious is that it includes identifying information such as someone’s name and social insurance number that cannot be changed.”

While I hope that Capital One loses this lawsuit and has to pay up, this doesn’t go far enough. Capital One needs to explain how this happened, what they are going to do to ensure it doesn’t happen again, and face punishment in the US, Canada and anywhere else that this data breach reaches. That way they know that their failure to protect their customer data has consequences. And others will know that if they screw up like this, that punishment will be swift and costly.