Canadians nearly three times more likely to encounter payment fraud using cash versus credit cards, despite cash being perceived as safest payment method, reveals new Payments Canada study

Thirteen per cent of Canadians experienced payment fraud during a six-month period in 2025, with a disproportionately higher incidence (25 per cent) among newcomers; One in four (25 per cent) Canadians risk missing bill payments due to scam fears.

OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 7, 2025 /CNW/ - While the percentage of Canadians who experienced payment fraud remained consistent year-over-year in 2025, new research from Payments Canada reveals shifts in the types of fraud and varying rates of fraud among different age demographics. Thirteen per cent experienced payment fraud over a six-month period in 2025, comparable with the level of fraud since 2021.

"While the rate of payment fraud has remained steady over the last few years, we saw shifts in the types of payment fraud that Canadians experienced," said Jon Purther, Director, Research. "In particular, our research reveals that Canadians encountered the highest level of fraud when using cash compared to any other payment type. This may be due to the longevity of cash versus other payment forms, with fraud tactics, such as counterfeiting, becoming more sophisticated over time. Old techniques continue to prevail, such as pickpocketing and scams involving cash payments, such as romance scams, advance fee scams and impersonation scams. Fraudsters constantly evolve their techniques, which requires continued diligence by consumers and the payment ecosystem working together to stay one step ahead."

Key study findings:

• 60 per cent of payment fraud incidents involved money loss.
• 32 per cent of Canadians don't know which payment-related communications are legitimate.
• 53 per cent say that concerns about fraud impact payment preferences and shopping habits.
• Many Canadians fail to use password best practices; 19 per cent use the same password for all accounts and six per cent have given out their personal and banking details via email or text message.

Fraud was disproportionately higher among newcomers and younger Canadians: Canadian newcomers experienced nearly twice the rate of payment fraud compared to the overall population (at 25 per cent versus 13 per cent, respectively). Nearly two in five Canadians who were the targets of payment fraud experienced it within the last month. Of this group, young Canadians (18-34) represented the largest demographic at 58 per cent, followed by middle-aged Canadians (35-54) at 32 per cent and older Canadians (55+) at 24 per cent.

Canadians experienced nearly three times more payment fraud experiences using cash versus credit cards: The research revealed that Canadians encountered the highest average number of fraud experiences when using cash versus any other payment method at 22.4 times over a six-month period in 2025. This was followed by prepaid cards at 10.5 times and credit and debit cards, both at 8.8 times. 

Money loss from payment fraud was typically less than $500; majority of losses were fully reimbursed: Among Canadians who experienced payment fraud, 37 per cent report that no money was taken but their personal financial data was stolen, versus 60 per cent who experienced money loss. In most cases, the amount lost was less than $500. Of those who experienced money loss through payment fraud, 80 per cent reported it to their financial institution; 65 per cent of incidents were fully reimbursed by their bank, credit union or card provider and 21 per cent were partially reimbursed. Older Canadians were significantly more likely not to have lost money compared to middle-aged and young Canadians (60 per cent versus 34 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively).

The majority of Canadians say that concerns over fraud impact their payment and shopping behaviours, but that they feel protected by their financial institution: More than half (53 per cent) of respondents said that fraud concerns impact their payment behaviour, although 58 per cent feel protected by their bank, credit union, or credit card provider. Concern around payment fraud influenced many Canadians' shopping habits, including 67 per cent who verify the safety of e-commerce sites and only shop with trusted sites and 51 per cent who stick to local and in-person dealings when making online peer-to-peer transactions on marketplace sites like Kijiji and Craigslist.

One in four Canadians are at risk of missing bill payments due to concerns about scams: Almost a third of Canadians (32 per cent) struggle with distinguishing between legitimate payment-related communications and requests received by telephone or email and those that are potentially scams. One in four Canadians (25 per cent, up from 22 per cent in 2024) felt that they were at risk of missing their bill payments because they avoided responding to payment-related communication that they were concerned was a potential scam.

Cash considered most secure payment method: Despite cash-related payment fraud being nearly three times higher than credit card related fraud experiences, cash is perceived to be the safest payment method by 72 per cent of Canadians, followed by Interac e-Transfer (60 per cent), credit card (55 per cent), Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) (55 per cent) and debit card (54 per cent).

Canadians take a mix of measures to protect themselves against payment fraud: Many Canadians practice key fraud mitigation measures including; limiting how much personal information is shared (78 per cent); using passwords with more than 10 characters and a mix of upper and lowercase, numbers and symbols (70 per cent, up from 48 per cent in 2024); and enabling two-step authentication to access accounts whenever available (67 per cent). Despite the measures Canadians are taking, there is still room for improvement. Nineteen per cent tend to use the same password for all their accounts and six per cent have given out their personal and banking details via email or text message.

Unauthorized transactions and impersonation fraud are among the most prevalent types of payment fraud, but levels are down from 2024: Outside of cash-related fraud, unauthorized transactions appearing on a bank or credit card statement and impersonation fraud were the most prevalent types of payment fraud experienced by Canadians, similar to 2024. However, the incidence level for each fraud type shifted in 2025 compared to 2024: 

• Fraudulent transaction on bank or credit card statement: 33 per cent (38 per cent in 2024) 
• Impersonator fraud via email, text, phone or social media: 24 per cent (34 per cent in 2024)
• Unauthorised purchase made through stolen credit card information: 20 per cent (18 per cent in 2024)
• Online purchase made via a fraudulent website: 17 per cent (14 per cent in 2024)
• Deceived into sending payment under false pretences: 11 per cent (11 per cent in 2024)
• Fraudulent purchase made using stolen debit card information: 10 per cent (7 per cent in 2024)
• Fraudster stole bank account information to take money: 8 per cent (6 per cent in 2024)

"Payment fraud is a global challenge with constantly evolving fraudster tactics and Canada is no exception," said Donna Kinoshita, Chief Payments Officer at Payments Canada. "Supporting industry collaboration is a key area of focus for Payments Canada, including through our role with the Canadian anti-scam alliance, working alongside over fifty organisations from financial, telecom, digital platform, law enforcement and government sectors to lend our payment infrastructure and security expertise. We are also excited to be the first country to implement a centralized fraud system for Canada's forthcoming Real-Time Rail payment system from day one of launch, for which the technical build is on track to be completed in the coming weeks."

About the study: 1,500 Canadians were interviewed online between February 24 and March 7, 2025, using Leger's online panel. The margin of error was +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

About Payments Canada: Payments Canada makes payments easier, smarter and safer for people living in Canada by providing secure and resilient national infrastructure where payments are cleared and settled between financial institutions. We are a public purpose organization that owns and operates Canada's payment systems, Lynx, the Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS) and the forthcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR), and are responsible for the by-laws, rules and standards that support these systems. In 2024, our systems cleared and settled $107 trillion — more than $424 billion every business day. Some of the transactions that pass through our systems include debit card payments, pre-authorized debits, direct deposits, bill payments, wire payments and cheques. Payments are an essential part of our economy and way of life. From a down payment on a home, an invoice paid to a local business or a first paycheque — payments keep Canadians and the economy moving forward.

For media inquiries, please visit Payments Canada's media centre.  

SOURCE Payments Canada