Banks race to close the gap as confident young clients keep falling for AI-driven scams
Most young Canadians say they can spot AI scams – yet almost one-in-three admit they fell for one in the past year.
A new Scotiabank Fraud Awareness Poll shows Canadians aged 18–34 are the most confident (76 percent) in their ability to identify AI-generated scams, but also the most vulnerable, with 29 percent saying they were victims of fraud in the last 12 months.
Social media and email scams top the list of channels, pointing to fraudsters’ focus on younger, more digitally connected Canadians.
The findings undercut the assumption that seniors face the greatest fraud risk.
The poll indicates younger Canadians are increasingly falling victim, even as 90 percent of Canadians say they fear AI will create more sophisticated financial fraud that is harder to detect.
Many Canadians already turn to their financial institutions for support: half (50 percent) say they rely on their bank or credit union for fraud prevention resources.
Tammy McKinnon, senior vice president of Global Fraud Management, Scotiabank, frames this as an education challenge as AI raises the quality of scams.
Tammy McKinnon, senior vice president, Global Fraud Management at Scotiabank, says fraudsters are using AI to create “more convincing scams than ever before,” giving banks a greater role in helping Canadians spot scams, practise safe banking habits and add extra protection.
She notes that “fraud is increasingly impacting younger Canadians” and urges families to use their bank’s prevention resources so they can stay informed and keep their financial information safe.
Canadians report relatively strong baseline security habits.
The poll shows 78 percent are aware of the security precautions their financial institution has in place.
Most say they use secure and unique passwords (88 percent), enable two-step verification when offered (82 percent), and know how to identify and report fraudulent activity (81 percent).
Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) believe financial institutions should be given more time to process transactions to protect against fraud.
The bank highlights several practical steps Canadians can take against AI-enabled scams.
Scotiabank recommends several steps to reduce fraud risk: visit its Cybersecurity and Fraud Hub for guidance on common scams, fraud simulations and a scam identifier tool; turn on multifactor authentication for all online accounts; set a family code word to verify unusual voice or video calls; and use platform reporting tools instead of sharing, liking or commenting on suspected deepfakes or AI‑driven scams.
To help protect Canadians more broadly, Scotiabank has joined the Canadian Anti‑Scam Coalition, a partnership with the federal government, law enforcement and major financial services, telecom and technology firms, described as Canada’s first cross‑sector initiative to combat scams.
