With 41% of scams happening on dating and social apps, why are social-media-savvy Canadians falling victim to them? We’re looking at the top six phishing scams aimed at young Canadians and sharing expert advice from cybersecurity experts on how not to fall for them.
The latest scams in Canada targeting Gen Z
Those stats above come from a new TD survey. It reports that phishing scams are not just targeting older generations. Young people—who spend most of their waking hours online—are being scammed, and it’s happening via email and text messages (74%), phone calls (64%), social media (43%), online ads (29%), job or service applications (25%), and online dating apps (10%).
Those numbers are likely to grow. A TransUnion study shows that digital fraud is on the rise. Suspected online fraud attempts were up nearly 39% in 2023, the third-highest increase among 19 countries. (And that’s just the cases that were reported!)
I spoke with cybersecurity expert Laura Payne, chief enablement officer and vice president of security consulting at cyber security firm White Tuque. I asked about the top scams of the moment that home in on those new to the workforce, online shoppers and daters—three of the top six phishing scams making their rounds across Canada.
Eager-to-please young workers may be easy prey. These scams often involve fake emails from authority figures, like a boss, requesting actions or favours, such as buying gift cards as a “surprise” for company employees. Due to a lack of experience and understanding of expectations, junior staffers may be inclined to comply, leading to unintended consequences like purchasing cards for fraudsters.
“The ‘boss’ sends an email saying, ‘I want to do a nice thing for the company. I want you to go out and buy some gift cards. Don’t tell anybody, it’s a secret,” explains Payne. “I’ve seen it happen more than once, where they go out and buy the gift cards and find out afterwards they’ve been tricked and passing cards onto the scammer.”
Another employment scam Payne warns about is one-off gig jobs, where people are tricked into completing tasks and not receiving payment. Need another one? Phishing scams aimed at online shoppers carried out via text or email. Payne says that fake delivery notifications lure young Canadians who have online shopping habits, which can lead to inadvertently providing personal information to secure their delivery.
When it comes to online dating, a common con is when fraudsters trick people into sharing intimate photos by pretending to be in a romantic relationship, exploiting their trust to later use the compromising images against them.
