Posthaste: If you thought Trump’s trade war was bad, watch out for the tariff scams

Almost 60% of Canadians have been hit by fraudsters exploiting uncertainty around trade rules between Canada and the United States. Photo by Postmedia

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Data from an Interac survey out this morning shows that 58 per cent of Canadians have experienced a tariff scam in the past six months, including messages about package delays, customs fees or impersonation calls.

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“Scams are increasingly mirroring real life – and Canadians are seeing the impact,” said Interac in its press release.

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Almost 80 per cent of Canadians believe AI is enabling fraudsters to create highly convincing scams by capitalizing on breaking news and current events, making it harder to distinguish legitimate messages from fraud.

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“Not all scams look suspicious and that is what worries Canadians,” said Royal Bank of Canada, whose own fraud poll this month found people are struggling with more frequent and harder-to-spot scams.

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“Canadians feel increasingly vulnerable as they navigate a growing wave of scams designed to appear legitimate by exploiting familiarity, authority and trust.”

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Trump’s volatile trade policy — “where urgency and unfamiliar changes already feel plausible” — is fertile ground for fraudsters who take advantage of consumers’ confusion, said Interac.

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More than half of those polled believe scammers are actively exploiting uncertainty around trade rules between Canada and the United States.

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To defend themselves more Canadians are sticking to “Made in Canada.”

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A third of the respondents now prioritize Canadian websites over international sites, a shift in where they place their trust, Interac said.

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Nearly a quarter say they have reduced their cross-border purchases because of concerns about fraud, and 47 per cent are avoiding unfamiliar retailers.

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Fraudsters have also zeroed in on Canadians’ cost of living challenges with scams involving overdue bill notices, utility shutoff threats and offers of government assistance.

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“Our latest Interac survey reflects what we’re seeing on the front lines – fraudsters are moving faster and tracking the news cycle to make phishing, impersonation and investment scams seem legitimate,” said Mark Hines, head of product, fraud, at Interac.

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“As those scams become harder to spot, many of the warning signs Canadians once relied on are less clear, eroding trust in everyday digital interactions.”

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Traditional red flags like typos or poor formatting, for example, are no longer the indicators of fraud they once were because of the increasing sophistication of AI-assisted scams.

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More than half of the Canadians polled say they have doubted legitimate messages from trusted organizations like banks and telecom providers because scam attempts have become so convincing.