Canadians reported losing $13.3M in online sale frauds in 2022: anti-fraud centre

Fraud associated with buying or selling goods and services online cost Canadians a reported $13.3 million in 2022, according to Canada’s national anti-fraud call centre.

In a bulletin published this week, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Centre (CAFC) said that a large portion of these fraudulent sales was related to concert and event tickets posted online, on social media, or on classified websites.

“The tickets posted are normally for events which are in high demand, but have sold out,” the report said. “Fraudsters are trying to capitalize on the supply shortage and the buyer’s vulnerability and will ask for payment immediately to avoid missing the ‘only opportunity’ to purchase tickets.”

According to the CAFC, another common way fraudsters work is by creating classified ads for property rentals in desirable locations.

“The ads are posted with below-average prices to attract more consumers,” it said. “Interested consumers will receive prompt responses with photos stolen from legitimate ads. To secure the rental, fraudsters will ask that a payment is made quickly.”

Counterfeit goods are also an ongoing concern, the CAFC says.

“Websites and advertising of counterfeit goods are often made to mimic legitimate sites, and will use tactics such as ‘Today Only’ or ‘Limited Time Offer’ to justify the drastic discounts.”

Further confusing consumers is the fact that traffic to many of these websites is generated by paid advertisements on social media.

Sellers are also vulnerable to fraud, the centre says.

“Fraudsters will contact sellers via email, text, or social media with a generic message wanting to buy an item without seeing it,” it said. “They will claim to be out of town and will offer to pay above the asking price to cover the cost of shipping. The seller will either receive a fraudulent payment in the form of a counterfeit cheque, compromised credit card, or a fake email notification stating that the payment is pending.”

To prevent fraud, consumers should be wary of greatly reduced prices and rental units listed below fair market value. A big giveaway is text with spelling errors or references to the product as “the item,” the centre said.

The total losses do not include fraud that goes unreported.

The CAFC is operated by the RCMP, the Competition Bureau, and the Ontario Provincial Police.