Cost of fraud has risen sharply for Canadian financial firms

Canadian financial services firms saw the cost of fraud jump almost 20% between 2020 and 2022, with every dollar lost to fraud actually costing them $3.78 ($3.74 for mortgage and lending firms). For US firms, the cost rose 16% to $4.23 ($4.08 for mortgage and lending firms).

Mobile acceleration

The report reveals a greater risk from fraudsters targeting mobile channels, increased bot attacks, various scams and the rapid adoption of buy now, pay later.

Larger volumes of transactions on mobile devices means they account for a bigger share of fraudulent activity and costs.

Risks are elevated at the account creation stage of the customer journey due to a greater prevalence of scams. Many of these risks relate to identity fraud, especially with new account opening increasing.

Canadian lending firms and US mortgage lenders saw the biggest increase in identity-related fraud across account creation, with a 9% rise and 11% rise respectively since 2020.