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As holiday shopping kicks off, AI-driven scams and digital fraud are on the rise. Learn how shoppers can protect themselves this season.
As the holiday shopping season approaches, one expert says there are some scam trends emerging that consumers need to watch out for. Larry Zelvin, the head of the financial crimes unit at BMO Financial Group, said new technologies like artificial intelligence are making fraud harder to detect. “The risks are ever-present every day all year long, but when it comes to this time of the year, ’tis the season to steal even more. Retailers are making more money this time of year than any other, so the fraudsters are all over it as well,” Zelvin said.
The list of newer scams includes AI-powered fraud, where scammers create fake retailer websites, along with phishing emails or deepfake videos to impersonate brands or influencers. Fraudsters can also embed malicious links in QR codes—a method that’s “extremely widespread,” Zelvin said. “When you scan that QR code, there really is a URL or a website link, but people don’t look at it because it’s small,” he said.
Other methods include counterfeit products on the TikTok Shop as well as digital pickpocketing, where criminals use contactless payment devices to skim data from phones—something that’s becoming more common. Zelvin said instances of digital pickpocketing can happen in places like a shopping mall or on transit, where there are crowds. “Where it used to be somebody stealing your wallet or your purse, now they’re stealing what’s on your phone,” he said.
He noted that 2.6% of online transactions in Canada between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday were flagged as fraudulent last year, a 51% annual increase. He noted that older consumers are disproportionately targeted.
Zelvin said there is a vast increase in people online during the peak buying periods, and fraudsters are “following the opportunity.”
The majority of Canadian consumers are still planning to shop during Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year, despite a slight decline in planned participation, according to a report from Boston Consulting Group.
About 77 % of Canadian consumers indicated they are planning to shop for deals, down six percentage points from the previous year. On average, the report found consumers were planning to spend US$305 on year-end sales events, dipping from last year, reflecting a “cautious but steady sentiment.”
To help avoid falling victim to a scam while shopping, Zelvin pointed to several measures you can take. This includes not clicking links in emails or texts and instead going directly to retailer websites. Verifying links to websites and looking for relevant HTTPS security indicators can help protect consumers.
He also advises using credit cards rather than debit cards or payment apps because they tend to have stronger fraud protections in place. “Credit cards are a good way to pay just because they are not fast-moving, but instant payment systems, wires, gift cards, some of these payment apps, and cryptocurrency—that money is gone,” Zelvin said.
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Other practices, like being skeptical of “limited time offers,” can help, he said, along with researching unfamiliar sellers. “The work you will do at the front will be far less than what you would have to do on the back if all of a sudden you have a high dollar amount, or multiple incident fraud,” he said.
Overall, Zelvin advises consumers to “slow down” and not be in a rush to hand over their financial information. “Really do think, be more skeptical. You don’t have to be afraid, you just have to be more critical,” he said.
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