Canadians Experience Higher Rates of Dating and Online Forum Fraud Than Global Average

Canadians were targeted by suspected digital fraud on online communities such as dating sites and forums at rates well above the global average last year, a new report suggests.

The report found that 11.9 percent of online interactions involving Canadians on platforms such as dating sites and online forums were flagged as suspected fraud attempts, compared with 8.1 percent globally.

Nearly 13,000 participants from 18 nations, including about 1,000 Canadians, were surveyed by TransUnion late last year. The recently published findings detail participants’ experiences with suspected digital fraud attempts.

Suspected digital fraud in Canada’s online communities sector rose 63 percent in 2025 from 2024, while fraud linked to video gaming platforms increased 53 percent. Both contrasted sharply with global trends, where suspected fraud in online communities fell 36 percent and gaming-related fraud rose 7 percent over the same period.

Unlike typical data breaches and website hacks meant to steal information, these community-oriented digital threats involve fraudsters directly connecting with consumers to build their trust.

“These rising risks reflect fraudsters’ growing focus on platforms that facilitate person‑to‑person interactions, online social engagement and public‑service access — areas where identity trust gaps and high digital activity create fertile ground for exploitation,” the report authors wrote.

Attempted government-related frauds, meanwhile, rose 14 percent, while online gambling platform frauds increased 7 percent, and insurance frauds climbed 3 percent, the survey found.

Fraud fell in several other categories. The volume of suspected fraud plunged 73 percent in online retail, 62 percent in logistics, and 32 percent in financial services, indicating that focused interventions can effect change, the report noted.

The survey also found that 4.4 percent of digital transactions involving Canadian consumers were identified as potential fraud attempts in 2025, in contrast to a global average of 3.8 percent for the same timeframe.

“While this represents a slight year‑over‑year decline from 2024 levels, it still underscores Canadian digital interactions remain a disproportionately attractive target for fraudsters relative to many other markets,” the authors said, noting that Canada’s fraud rate has remained high compared to global standards.

The report also estimated that 14.2 percent of account login attempts in Canada last year were potentially fraudulent, compared to the global average of 4.3 percent.

Money Lost

While many of the fraud attempts didn’t succeed, 13 percent of the Canadians surveyed said they lost money to digital fraud in the past year. The average amount lost per person was $1,301.

Twenty-six percent of those surveyed indicated that they had been victims of fraud due to stolen credit card information or unauthorized charges.

Scams involving third-party sellers on e-commerce platforms ranked second, accounting for 22 percent of frauds, followed by account takeovers at 21 percent, phishing at 20 percent, and ‘smishing’ at 15 percent.

In a phishing attack, fraudsters pose as legitimate organizations or trusted individuals to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information such as passwords, credit card details, or banking data. Typically, attackers employ misleading emails, text messages, or websites to entice victims into divulging information.

Smishing is similar, but uses deceptive text messages to trick people into either revealing personal information or clicking on malicious links, or downloading malware.

Digital fraud targeting Canadians appears to be widespread, but the majority of those targeted did not become victims of the scam, the survey found.

Only 6 percent of those surveyed reported falling victim to these fraud attempts from August to December 2025, a year-over-year decrease of three percentage points. Forty-nine percent said they were targeted but did not fall victim and 45 percent said they were not targeted at all.

The survey found that 52 percent of surveyed Canadians were worried about falling victim to identity theft and 41 percent reported concerns of their accounts being accessed fraudulently.