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By LegalMatters Staff • Fraud is a common crime, especially in Alberta.
Twenty-two per cent of Albertans reported being a victim of fraud in the past five years, according to Statistics Canada, compared to a national average of 17 per cent.
“Both of those numbers may be much higher, as fraud is rarely reported to the police,” says Calgary criminal lawyer Greg Dunn.
He notes that the top three most reported frauds in 2022 were phishing, extortion and personal information scams.
“The last one aims to have people reveal sensitive information such as their Social Insurance Number, passwords or banking details,” says Dunn.
At least 900 people in Alberta fell victim to scam calls last year, he says, with losses totalling more than $5.4 million.
“There are many reasons why Canadians lost more in 2022, but the primary one is that scammers increasingly have access to more information that they can use to appear legitimate,” says Dunn.
He explains that when people post innocuous information about family members on social media platforms such as Facebook, others can use that information to create a scam that sounds authentic since it uses relevant names and information.
“A common one is the grandparent scam, where callers contact a senior and claim that their grandchild is in the hospital or in jail and require immediate funds,” says Dunn.
