Data released by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre indicates that citizens in the province lost at least $1.4 million to financial scams in 2017.
Financial crimes include phishing, extortion and identity fraud.
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But the province says that the figure isn’t a realistic representation of financial crimes in the province.
“Because financial fraud is highly under-reported, the actual amount lost is likely higher,” New Brunswick’s financial consumer services commission wrote in a release on Monday.
According to the 2017 Canadian Securities Administrators Investor Index for New Brunswick, seven-in-10 New Brunswickers who were approached over investment fraud did not report it.
“Unfortunately, victims are often too ashamed to report when they have lost money in a fraud,” said Marissa Sollows, acting director of education and communications for the Financial and Consumer Services Commission.
“Retirement savings, homes and sometimes businesses have been lost. The impact of fraud can be far reaching and devastating.”
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Data shows that the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received 185 complaints of phishing last year in New Brunswick, followed by extortion (163 victims) and identity fraud (118).
The provincial government is urging New Brunswickers to visit their financial and consumer services commission website in order to learn how to detect and counter fraud attempts.
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