CAFC 2024 Annual Statistical Report

Executive summary

Fraud is continuing to cause significant harms to Canadian consumers and businesses. From increases in financial losses to devastating emotional and psychological impacts, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) continues to document victim accounts of fraud that show the ever-evolving complexity, sophistication and scope of this crime.

This report is intended to highlight some of the primary statistical findings based data captured by the CAFC in 2024.

The CAFC currently documents more than 30 different fraud types that target both Canadian consumers and businesses. There are some common hallmarks found in the various scams. Some of the hallmarks include:

• Deception - leading the victim to believe they are dealing with a legitimate organization (for example, a bank, government, corporation, etc.) or a person (family member, friend, lawyer, law enforcement officer, etc.) often in an attempt to gain trust.
• Urgency - the frauds often involve creating a sense of urgency to get victims to send money or provide personal information before they realize it is a scam. This includes high pressure tactics to get victims to act now before it is too late.
• Victimization - it is a game of numbers; the more people are targeted, the more likely you will be successful. Ultimately, the criminals involved do not discriminate when choosing targets. Certain demographics may be more susceptible to certain scam types and solicitation methods.
• Scope - fraud is often national and international in scope. Most frauds today involve solicitations originating in one country targeting victims in another country with money going to yet a different country.
• Loss - as noted above, frauds are designed to get intended victims to part with their money or personal information. Individual victim losses can range from hundreds of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions.

The entire report is available for download on the Government of Canada's Open Government website.