Fraud–and investment fraud in particular–is one of the fastest-growing crimes in Canada. Data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) shows that between 2022 and 2025, Canadians lost more than $2.4 billion to scammers. In 2025 alone, Canadians lost $704 million, up more than 300 per cent from 2020. But with only between five per cent and 10 per cent of frauds reported, these losses represent a fraction of the impact.
Canada is not alone. Interpol’s 2026 Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment calls financial fraud one of the world’s most severe and rapidly changing transnational crimes. Criminal networks are collaborating with money laundering groups to scale operations globally. They’re using artificial intelligence to plan and execute schemes to steal personal information and money.
Common threats include vendor and payment fraud, investment scams presenting high-yield, low-risk opportunities and cyber-attacks. In its 2024 Family Office Cybersecurity Report, Deloitte found that 43 per cent of family offices globally had experienced a cyberattack. This increased to 57 per cent for family offices in North America, and 62 per cent for family offices with more than US$1B in assets under management.
“Fraud in the investment community has been an issue since I started my career in 2007,” says Philip Marion, chief investment officer of Foster Family Office Group. “The attempts today are more sophisticated and more frequent. One of the things Foster Family Office spends time thinking about with families is risk, not just market risk, but the kinds of things that can have a real impact if they’re overlooked or underestimated. Fraud is one of those areas. It can affect anyone.”
To help raise awareness, Marion recently spoke with Toronto Police Service’s David Coffey, a detective in the Financial Crimes Unit, for an episode of Foster Perspectives. Coffey joined the unit in 2020, at the start of the pandemic and shelter-in-place mandates. With everyone at home, working, shopping, and banking online, fraud exploded. “We became a digital world immediately. In 2020, the CAFC reported $165 million in damages. This jumped to more than $370 million the next year.”
Why fraud is on the rise
He notes that fraud has changed rapidly since then thanks to another key driver: the advent of ChatGPT and the growing use of AI on the part of fraudsters. This ranges from employing AI to ensure fraudulent emails are error-free and fraudulent documents are indistinguishable from real documents to what Detective Coffey describes as “the real weaponization of AI.”
AI is being used to gather sensitive personal information from data beaches as well as from the information people share willingly on social media to personalize scams and target specific victims. “They [scammers] know your name, home address, email address, where you bank, they even know your driver’s license before they reach out.” The result: fraud is more convincing, compelling and damaging than it ever was.
AI in the financial offices space
A survey from Citi Private Bank as reported in Canadian Family Offices, finds that while globally 53 per cent of family offices are investing in AI technologies, fewer than 15 per cent are using AI to increase operational efficiencies. Those firms that have adopted AI, are focused on ensuring human oversight and an ethical framework.
“The use of AI for analysis and document processing has been fantastic,” says Marion. “But, from a firm perspective, AI has to be monitored carefully to ensure client information is protected and not used to train a platform’s algorithms.” Foster Family Office, for example, has made its protocols for the use of AI a separate line item in its client policies and procedures.
Your information is out there – stay vigilant
The Toronto Police Service receives 17,000 fraud reports a year. Detective Coffey says that one of the most important things everyone can do to protect themselves is to accept that in today’s digital world, your personal information is out there and bad actors will try to use it to steal your money.
He explains that scams are effective because criminals are using the information they’ve collected about their targets combined with social engineering and people’s trust in institutions and authorities to target human emotion.
For example, investment scams may go on for weeks and months, starting with small investments that victims watch grow on a fraudulent website. They’re told the opportunity is exclusive and not to tell anyone else. And even when it becomes clear they can’t withdraw their money, they believe or at least accept the excuses because they’ve invested so much and are embarrassed that they were duped.
Less sophisticated scams include unexpected calls citing anomalies in an account, or wanting to confirm KYC information.
Detective Coffey recommends that if you are getting unusual phone calls and emails from people or institutions in your network, pause and verify. “If you receive a phone call out of the blue and it’s someone saying they are with your bank, hang up, call the phone number on the back of your bank card–not the number they give you–or go into your bank and talk to them.”
Why so few people report their experience with fraud
Knowledge and awareness are the best defence against fraud, says Detective Coffey, who recommends reporting fraud attempts to CAFC and telling family and friends. He also knows just how difficult this can be, as evidenced by the overwhelming majority of frauds that go unreported.
Fraud is a delicate topic and one that can lead to hard conversations. Many victims feel humiliated for being deceived, especially when, in hindsight, the fraud seems obvious. They don’t want to be judged.
Moreover, wealthy families and family offices are not immune to fraud. The larger and more complex the organization, the more tempting the target and the more potential points of entry for the fraudsters.
“Fraud often begins with trust, urgency, or a moment when someone is caught off guard. That is why prevention belongs in the family risk conversation, before a crisis forces the issue,” says Marion.
In fact, Marion recently avoided falling for a telecom scam and understands the feeling. “The scammer had the last four numbers of my account number, my name and email address. They told me that as a long-standing customer, they wanted to offer me a discount. At that moment, the story was believable. I started going down the path before realizing nobody is offering that. I felt sheepish afterward.”
To help protect their clients from fraud, Foster Family Office has implemented several measures, including: multi-factor authentication, the use of a virtual private network and a secure client portal to share and store documentation. As well as stringent security protocols to verify wire transfers and any movement of money, and ongoing training and education.
Awareness is critical, particularly in the family office space, says Marion. “Our continuous education on cybersecurity and fraud is rigorous. Knowing the risks and being able to identify fraud is how we can help prevent it.”