Any time you venture onto the internet, open an email, or answer the phone, you are at risk of being the victim of a scam.

In 2025, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca), Canadians lost a record $704 million to fraud, and that is only the reported cases. 

Last month, I was a speaker in Learning in Leisure’s fall program (learninginleisure.com) and my topic was how to avoid becoming a victim of an internet scam.

The presentation involved a lot of slides, graphics, and details and I can’t summarize the whole presentation, but here are a few of the more important take-aways.

Online or phone fraud is often regarded as mainly aimed at seniors but Generation Z, those born between 1995 and 2012, is about three times as likely to fall for online scams compared to baby boomers, and sustains the highest fraud losses. 

Gen Z mainly falls victim to financial, online shopping, and employment scams promoted through social media, online ads, and fake job listings, which is not all that........

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