Good news for anyone worried about debit card fraud: the losses suffered by Canadians from this crime have been dropping steadily since 2009 and have hit record lows.
In 2014, the amount of debit card fraud was $16.2 million. This is down 45% over the past year from $29.5 million, which was the lowest level recorded since 2003.
Mark Sullivan, head of fraud risk programs for Interac and Acxsys Corporation, said losses are falling due to new safeguarding technologies being used in electronic payment systems.
“As our fraud numbers show, we have a steady decline of Interac debit card fraud losses since the introduction of chip and PIN technology in 2009,” Sullivan said.
“These investments in technology, along with our policies, sophisticated fraud prevention and detection efforts, and partnerships, have had a tremendously positive impact on the decline of Interac debit card fraud in Canada.”
Despite this progress, 41% of Canadians still remain worried about debit card fraud.
The number one concern (49%) is of skimming fraud, which involves taking payment card data from a legitimate sale and using it to steal money from the victim’s account. This type of crime often occurs at restaurants or gas stations.
The survey also found that 45% are worried about retail data breaches.
Younger Canadians, defined as those under age 35, are less concerned about debit card fraud than those in other age groups. Skimming and online shopping breaches are the top concerns in this demographic (34% each).
