Mobile Phone Fraud in Canada Grows 66% since beginning of the year

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - November 10, 2016) - Mobile phone fraud in Canada is on the rise, according to Hiya, the global leader in phone spam and robocall protection. With 3.5 billion calls analyzed globally every month, Hiya offers a look into the vast phone spam problem plaguing Canadian mobile phone users. Total growth in unwanted nuisance calls in Canada has grown 66% since January and a staggering 93% since the middle of the year.

As the price to make a call has decreased to pennies on the dollar, and VOIP systems have become more sophisticated, robocalls and phone scams have reached staggering volumes. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), the first half of 2016 has had more phone scam victims than in all of 2015. An estimated $2.5 million has been lost thus far to consumers this year, already matching the total money lost in 2015.

"When you think of the hundreds of millions of robocalls being made per month, you begin to look into the various types of scams out there and it's eye opening to see how much these scams are affecting consumers," said Alex Algard, CEO of Hiya. "We want to help protect consumers by keeping them up to speed on the types of scams occurring, the area codes to be suspicious of and how they can protect themselves."

Hiya also revealed top phone numbers where fraudulent calls originate in Canada and the top phone scams across the country.

Top Canadian Area Codes Where Fraudulent Calls Originate (October 2016):

1. 613 (Ottawa)
2. 647 (Toronto)
3. 416 (Toronto)
4. 604 (Vancouver)
5. 204 (Manitoba province)
6. 905 (Ontario)
7. 519 (Ontario)
8. 778 (British Columbia)
9. 403 (Alberta)
10. 289 (Ontario)

Top 10 Phone Numbers Where Fraudulent Calls Originate

1. (204) 556-7459
2. (519) 315-8813
3. (613) 230-2890
4. (416) 640-3489
5. (604) 504-3469
6. (613) 691-1347
7. (403) 313-3718
8. (613) 691-1348
9. (604) 296-3232
10. (403) 279-3268

Top Five Types of Fraud Calls Affecting Mobile Users in Canada

1. Credit Card Services Scam. The fraudster pretends to be with a credit card company and offers to lower credit card rates. Victims are tricked into sharing personal or account information.
2. Car Adverts. Callers will call or text, offering $300 per week to wrap cars in advertisements. Fake cheques are sent to "cover the cost" but recipients are required to make up-front payments to the vinyl graphic artists.
3. Mystery Shopper. Recipient will receive a call or text from a mystery shopper company who proceeds to ask for personal information to complete an application.
4. Bank Scam. Fraudsters claim to be from a bank and trick recipients into logging into a fake bank link or providing account information.
5. CRA Tax Scam. The fraudster pretends to be with the CRA and demands money for unpaid taxes or will trick the recipient into sharing private information.

To learn more about the free iOS app, click here. To download the free app for Android devices, click here. Learn more about Hiya at www.Hiya.com.

About Hiya

Hiya provides enhanced caller ID products and services designed to make the phone experience better. With a database of more over 1.5 billion unique numbers globally, Hiya leverages its expansive algorithms to identify unknown calls and monitor phone-based threats for consumers and businesses. Hiya analyzes more than 3.5 billion incoming calls per month, and identified more than 507 million unwanted calls to mobile phones in October 2016. Hiya is available as a consumer app on Google Android and iPhone and is integrated into the phone experience for T-Mobile and Samsung Galaxy S7 users worldwide. For more information, please visit www.hiya.com.