How AI is changing financial fraud concerns

Three-quarters of Canadians report feeling more vulnerable to financial fraud due to advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), according to a new survey from TD Bank Group.

Even more (82%) believe that scams are becoming progressively harder to spot, while 86% are more concerned about fraud than they were five years ago.

The TD survey, conducted by Léger, ran from Dec. 18, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026, with a nationally representative sample of 1,517 Canadian adults and 262 Canadian business owners. The results have been weighted by age, gender, and region (and, in Quebec, language) to match the population, according to Census data.

The poll found the current fraud landscape is still causing significant harm, with nearly one in four (24%) of polled Canadians saying they — or a family member — have been the victim of financial fraud or a scam in the past year.

“It’s vital for Canadians to remember that longstanding fraud prevention tips remain as effective today as ever before,” Sophia Leung, executive vice president of TD’s Protect Platform, says in a press release. “Don’t respond to unsolicited communications — simply block and report them whenever possible.

“And always use secure networks. These simple actions can make a meaningful difference and significantly reduce risk.”

But despite the widespread concern over AI-related financial fraud, more than half (52%) of polled Canadians have engaged in activity that can make them more vulnerable to fraud or scams, TD reports. For example, this includes:

• 18% use public Wi-Fi for personal or financial accounts
• 15% open email attachments from unknown senders
• 15% click links in texts or emails before verifying the sender
• 13% engage with questionable online offers
• 11% download apps or software from unfamiliar sources.

Many Canadians also admit they aren’t proactively seeking education or advice on fraud protection. About one in four (41%) say they never consult resources or seek fraud prevention advice or education, while 42% do so only a few times per year or less.

Business threats

Canadian businesses aren’t immune to the growing trend of financial fraud and scams. Business owners say they’re feeling the pressure and recognizing the urgent need to protect themselves:

• 66% of business owners surveyed feel more exposed to fraud now than in previous years
• 61% see AI-driven crime as a major threat
• 46% endured at least one fraud or scam attempt in the past year.

“Business owners are concerned about fraudsters accessing their customer data as they leverage technological advancements,” says Sherry Kalantari, TD’s senior manager of business banking fraud prevention and education. “To stay one step ahead of bad actors, Canadian business owners should continue to review and boost their security protocols while keeping up with the latest fraud trends and how to combat them.”

TD offers a variety of tips for businesses and individuals, including:

Consider logging into apps using biometrics, such as fingerprint, face or iris scans. Unlike passwords, which can be compromised and used by third parties, biometrics offer a higher level of security as only your face, finger, or eye can be used to log in.

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Don’t wait until the end of the month to review transactions. Reconcile transactions often and immediately report any unusual transactions to your bank

Look for common red flags: an email address that is from a sender unknown to you; a greeting that is generic or overly formal, instead of personally addressed to you; an email with spelling and grammar errors or that uses awkward, outdated or unusual phrasing or language.

Be wary of an email with a link that may include a shortened URL, making it more difficult to determine if the site is legitimate, or hyperlinked text to hide the malicious link.

Jason Contant

Jason has been an award-winning journalist with Canadian Underwriter for more than a decade, including the past three years as associate editor and, before that, as digital editor for seven years.