A survey found that young people in Canada are emerging as prime targets of investment fraud.
Bloomberg, citing the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) on the 17th local time, reported that the share of Canadians ages 18 to 24 who said they lost money to investment fraud last year hit a record high, and the level of damage surpassed older adults for the first time. Excluding the COVID-19 period, youth employment has fallen to the lowest level in 27 years, and with liability burdens rising quickly, young people's vulnerability has expanded sharply.
The case of nurse Nicole Amaral, 24, who lives in Kelowna, British Columbia, also reflects this trend. While preparing for a licensing exam and working part-time, Amaral heard from a family acquaintance that "the investment doubled in just a few months" and was introduced to an investment firm. An employee then contacted Amaral via WhatsApp, a social media (SNS) app, and guided Amaral to buy about 10,000 Canadian dollars of bitcoin and transfer it to the platform. Amaral even checked a screen showing the investment details, but during attempts to withdraw funds was repeatedly and inexplicably blocked, realizing it was a scam. Canadian authorities also deemed the firm a fraud ring and blocked access to related sites.
Experts said job scarcity and economic pressure on young people have increased their exposure to fraud. Richard Powers, a professor at the University of Toronto's business school, said, "Young people find it hard to get jobs and, pressed by utility bills and living costs, end up ignoring warning signs." In fact, Canada's youth unemployment rate stood at 14.7% as of September, the highest since 2010 excluding the COVID-19 period. With the economy slowing and U.S.-Canada trade tensions overlapping, a large influx of immigrants has intensified competition in the entry-level job market, further worsening employment conditions.
Fiscal soundness has also been badly shaken. According to credit rater Equifax, the credit card arrears rate among those ages 18 to 24 was the highest of any age group in Canada and has deteriorated compared with 2020. With living costs surging, pseudo-investment pitches promising high returns appeared more attractive to young people, analysts said.
Most scams proceeded by first demanding the purchase of virtual assets. Because virtual assets move easily across borders and are hard to trace, they have become a preferred tool for fraud rings. A Canadian Securities Administrators official said, "Many groups operate as international crime networks, making tracking and prosecution difficult." Recently, technology-driven tactics such as deepfakes, manipulated platforms, and forged press releases have spread, markedly raising the sophistication of scams, critics said.
Young people's high use of social media and strong interest in virtual assets were also cited as reasons for rising victimization. Jeff Horncastle, spokesperson for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, said, "Young people use more dangerous platforms than other age groups," adding, "Peer examples of making money with bitcoin work effectively for scam approaches."