Canada fraud, banking, investment complaints rose in 2022

The Canadian Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) says it has responded A record high of over 10,000 public inquiries in 2022and the number of fraud complaints has increased dramatically year over year.

OBSI is a national and independent not-for-profit organization dealing with disputes between people and financial services. OBSI reported a 40 percent year-over-year increase in public inquiries in its 2022 annual report. The OBSI said the jump was largely driven by banking complaints, which rose 56 percent from 2021, while investment complaints rose eight percent.

The OBSI said it opened 1,151 cases last year, also a new record and up six percent from the last record set in 2021.

“These higher volumes continued the trend we’ve seen throughout the pandemic as Canadians, small businesses and financial services firms continue to face unprecedented economic challenges, rising levels of financial stress and rising rates of financial fraud,” said Sarah Bradley. The Ombudsman and the CEO of OBSI in a communication accompanying the report.

BANKING AFFAIRS

People complaining about their bank accounted for 686 cases that OBSI dealt with in 2022, a 33 percent increase from 514 cases in 2021.

Bradley says that in addition to the economic pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s changes in financial consumer protection laws also led to more complaints being filed and addressed through the system.

More consumers than ever are using Canadian banks’ in-house complaint handling services to resolve their concerns, and in record numbers are bringing their concerns to us for an independent expert review of their case,” said Bradley.

According to the report, fraud was the leading issue for complaints against banks in 2022. 31 percent of banking cases opened by OBSI were related to fraud, up from 22 percent in 2021. transfers, credit cards and bank transfers.

19 percent of all banking complaints were about service issues, while credit card chargebacks accounted for seven percent of all banking cases. The OBSI adds that rate complaints rose from nine in 2021 to 26 last year.

Credit cards, personal checking and savings accounts, and wire transfers were the top banking products people filed complaints about with OBSI in 2022. while complaints about electronic transfers are 14 percent.

INVESTMENT CASES

Investment-related cases decreased by about 18 percent in 2022 compared to 2021.

“Investment cases began the year with some moderation to near epidemic levels, but picked up late in the year, driven largely by investor concerns about continued market declines and volatility, as well as growing issues with fraud and service issues,” Bradley said. said:

According to the report, fraud-related cases have risen sharply to 11 percent of all investment cases in 2022, up from one percent in 2021.

Classification of investment cases includes:

• Mutual funds – 37 percent
• Total shares (shares) – 33 percent
• Maintenance problems – 21 percent
• Investment matching – 15 percent
• Disclosure of Fees – Eight percent

The newest complaint category, crypto assets, was the third most common complaint for investors in 2022, accounting for 11 percent of all investment cases.

“The increase in crypto-asset complaints is associated with increased regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency dealers, which has led to a number of dealers joining OBSI as participating companies in 2022,” OBSI said in a statement.

With Canadian press files