Canadians worried about fraud are proactive about protecting themselves, suggests a new poll from TD Canada Trust.


More than 90% of Canadians take preventive steps to avoid becoming a victim of fraud, from shredding documents to shielding their Personal Identification Number (PIN), according to the poll.

“It is very encouraging to see so many Canadians take action to help protect themselves,” says Andrea Phillips, Vice President, Payments, TD Canada Trust.

“Financial institutions have sophisticated monitoring and detection tools in place and work closely with law enforcement to help protect their customers from fraud. Canadians can take complementary steps to greatly reduce their risk by becoming aware and taking precautions to protect themselves.”

The poll revealed that other actions taken by Canadians to prevent fraud include speaking with their bank about reducing their daily bank card withdrawal limit (12%) and changing their PIN every couple of months (6%).

While 82% of Canadians are concerned about fraud and 92% say they take some action to protect themselves, the poll showed that a few are engaging in risky behaviour: 21% of Canadians have sent their credit card number in emails, 10% have told someone their debit card PIN and 7% have carried their PIN in their wallet.

“Despite the overwhelming number of Canadians who are taking preventive action, there is still room for improvement,” says Phillips.

In support of Fraud Prevention Month, TD Canada Trust has developed a quiz to help Canadians determine how fraud savvy they are and learn what they can do to help protect themselves.

Click here for a copy of the quiz.

The poll, conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion, a division of Vision Critical, surveyed adult Canadians with debit and credit cards to gain a better understanding of Canadians’ concerns over fraud. The total sample size includes 1,059 working Canadians with polling completed February 9-11.

IE