Gen Z Canadians face disproportionate payment fraud risk, with nearly half experiencing scams in the past 12 months, reveals new Payments Canada research
Risky online behaviour and evolving fraud tactics leave younger Canadians especially vulnerable.
OTTAWA, September 22, 2026 — New research from Payments Canada reveals a significant generational divide in payment fraud experiences, with younger Canadians at a substantially higher risk of both being exposed to fraud attempts and losing money than other age groups.
The study found that nearly half (47 per cent) of Gen Z Canadians aged 18-24 experienced some type of scam involving attempted theft or loss of money and/or personal information over the past 12 months. This is significantly higher than the general population average of 30 per cent. Over a quarter (26 per cent) of Gen Z Canadians who experienced fraud lost money, double the 13 per cent of the general population.
"Not only are younger Canadians experiencing fraud at higher rates, but they're encountering different types of fraud, like online shopping scams and sophisticated friends and family imposter schemes, than their older counterparts," said Stephen Yun, Senior Analyst, Product and Market Research, Payments Canada. "Gen Z's active use of digital payment methods and social media platforms, combined with a lower likelihood to take basic preventative measures or avoid specific actions to mitigate fraud risk, creates a perfect storm for fraudsters."
Younger Canadians more likely to engage in risky online behaviours
Over two in 10 (21 per cent) Gen Z Canadians have given out their personal banking details via email or text message. Younger generations are also most likely to re-use passwords across multiple channels, with over two-thirds (36 per cent) of Gen Z saying that they use the same password across all of their accounts. This is especially risky as it means that when a fraudster gains unauthorized access to one account, they gain access to them all.
This generation is also less likely to create strong passwords (57 per cent) when compared to the general population (71 per cent), and nearly half of Gen Z say they store their passwords on their smartphone, laptop, email or in a paper notebook, meaning that this information is at higher risk of exposure than passwords stored using secure methods like a password manager. Email (46 per cent) and instant messaging (45 per cent) were the primary contact methods used to target Gen Z. This generation is also more likely to experience family/friend imposter schemes, which use sophisticated social engineering tactics to attempt to extract payment or other personal information.
"While most Canadians take steps to protect themselves from fraud, Gen Z's lower adoption of fraud mitigation practices suggests a gap in awareness and concern among younger digital natives," said Yun. "They assume their digital savviness protects them, but fraudsters are specifically targeting this group with sophisticated, socially engineered attacks tailored to how they communicate and conduct their financial lives."
AI and evolving fraud tactics making it harder for Canadians to spot payment scams
With the evolution of technology, fraudsters are adapting their tactics to more easily target potential victims, making scams harder to detect. Sixty per cent of Canadians agree that AI deepfakes and synthetic identity fraud are making it harder to detect scams, and nearly a third (32 per cent) struggle to distinguish between legitimate payment communications and scams.
Threat of fraud impacts consumer behaviour, but Canadians still feel protected by their financial institutions
Despite the fact that over half of Canadians (57 per cent) say that fraud concerns have impacted their payment behaviour and shopping habits, nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) say they feel protected by their bank, credit union or credit card provider.
A majority of Canadians (70 per cent) who experienced fraud involving money loss reported it to their financial institution, with 47 per cent of reported cases being resolved within a few days.
Coordinated ecosystem-wide approach is critical to protecting Canadians
The research underscores the fact that fraud mitigation requires more than individual effort. As an active member of the Canadian Anti-Scam Coalition, Payments Canada is committed to working with our ecosystem partners to combat financial fraud and shut down scams faster.
Launching in Q4 2026, Canada’s Real-Time Rail (RTR) will be one of the first real-time payment systems in the world to go live with centralized fraud mitigation services enabled from the outset. This includes a confirmation of payee capability that allows users to confirm a recipient's account identity before sending money. The RTR centralized fraud mitigation services will work in tandem with participants’ own fraud mitigation tools. A coordinated, ecosystem-wide approach to fraud, combining technology, regulation and education, is essential to meaningfully reduce the risk to Canadians.
“Combatting fraud and financial crime requires a united front. That’s why our 'Team Canada' approach to launching Canada’s Real-Time Rail is so important,” said Donna Kinoshita, Chief Payments Officer at Payments Canada. "By pairing the Real-Time Rail’s centralized fraud mitigation services with participants' internal fraud controls, we are building a safer, more resilient payment ecosystem.”
About the study
The data is from Payments Canada’s Payment Behaviour Tracker Study conducted between February and March 2026. The survey included ~1500 participants recruited through Leger’s online panel, with a margin of error +/-2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The respondent sample is weighted to be nationally representative of the adult Canadian population (18 or over).
About Payments Canada
Payments Canada enables prosperity, productivity and safety for Canada through trusted, critical national payment infrastructure. As a public-purpose organization, we own and operate Canada’s critical national payment systems: Lynx, our high-value payment system; the Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS), our retail batch payment system; and Canada’s forthcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR) payment system. We establish the by-laws, rules and standards that govern these systems, which cleared and settled $103 trillion in 2025 — more than $411 billion every business day. Transactions that pass through our systems include debit card payments, pre-authorized debits, direct deposits, bill payments, wire payments and cheques. In collaboration with our diverse membership, we continue to modernize Canada’s payment ecosystem to promote innovation, competition and deliver efficiencies that power a modern economy.
For media inquiries, please visit Payments Canada’s media centre.
