At Canadian Jeweller, we spend a lot of time covering the risks the industry can see clearly: gold prices, theft, shrinking margins, and shifting consumer demand. But one of the fastest-growing threats to jewellers today is less visible and, in many cases, more convincing. It is fraud that no longer looks obviously fake. It looks familiar. It looks timely. And increasingly, it looks like real life.
That is the central message in a new Interac survey released March 10, 2026. According to the findings, 79 per cent of Canadians believe artificial intelligence is enabling fraudsters to create highly convincing scams faster than ever by capitalizing on breaking news and current events. Interac also found that 66 per cent of Canadians no longer believe traditional signs such as spelling mistakes or poor formatting are dependable indicators of fraud. (Newswire)
The Scam Economy Now Looks Like the Real Economy
The most important shift here is not simply that scams are increasing. It is that scams are becoming context-aware. They are borrowing credibility from the same headlines, anxieties, and day-to-day disruptions consumers are already navigating.
In the past six months, 58 per cent of Canadians said they experienced a tariff-related scam, including messages about delayed packages, customs fees, import issues, or calls impersonating customs officials. Another 24 per cent noticed more scam attempts tied to cost-of-living pressures, including overdue bill notices, utility shutoff threats, and offers of government assistance. More than half, 58 per cent, believe scammers are actively exploiting uncertainty around trade rules between Canada and the United States. (Newswire)
For jewellers, that should feel uncomfortably close to home. Jewellery retail already sits at the intersection of high-value goods, shipping sensitivity, customer urgency, insurance concerns, and cross-border complexity. A fake customs text, a bogus shipping delay notice, or a spoofed payment verification email does not have to be brilliant to work. It only has to feel plausible for a few seconds. That is now the fraudster’s edge. This is an inference based on Interac’s survey findings and on the fact that phishing and smishing commonly impersonate delivery companies, businesses, banks, and government bodies. (Newswire)
Why This Matters More for Jewellers
Jewellers do not sell convenience alone. They sell trust. A bridal customer wiring a deposit, a client waiting on a special order, a store approving a supplier invoice, or a consumer responding to a shipment notification is making a decision that depends on confidence.
Interac’s survey found that 53 per cent of Canadians have doubted legitimate messages from trusted organizations because scam attempts have become so convincing. It also found that 47 per cent are avoiding unfamiliar retailers, 33 per cent are prioritizing Canadian websites over international ones, and 23 per cent have reduced cross-border purchases because of fraud concerns. (Newswire)
That is where this becomes a trade story, not just a consumer story. When customers hesitate to click a shipping notice, question a payment request, or second-guess a follow-up message, friction enters the sales process. In jewellery, friction is expensive. It slows conversion, complicates service, and weakens brand confidence precisely when stores need the opposite.
The broader fraud environment in Canada makes the stakes even clearer. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it received more than 112,000 fraud reports in 2025 involving over $704 million in reported losses, while authorities estimate that only 5 to 10 per cent of fraud incidents are actually reported. Since 2022, reported fraud losses in Canada have surpassed $2.4 billion.
Businesses are feeling the strain as well. CFIB and Interac reported that half of Canadian business owners experienced attempted or successful fraud in the previous year, with affected businesses losing an average of $7,800. Among the most common attempts were email phishing, text scams, and phone scams, while fraudulent payments and chargebacks were among the most damaging financially. (CFIB)
The Old Red Flags Are Fading
For years, retailers were told to teach staff and customers to watch for typos, awkward grammar, strange formatting, and messages that simply looked “off.” That advice is no longer enough.
Interac’s survey confirms that Canadians themselves are losing faith in those old warning signs. Meanwhile, federal cyber-safety guidance continues to warn that phishing and smishing frequently impersonate legitimate businesses, banks, delivery companies, and government departments, often using urgency to trigger quick action. (Newswire)
For jewellers, that means the new risk is polished deception. A fraudulent message may look clean, sound professional, and arrive at exactly the right moment in the customer journey. That is why instinct alone is no longer a strategy.
What Smart Jewellers Should Do Now
The right response is not panic. It is process.
Jewellers should make their communication standards unmistakably clear: which email domain the store uses, how shipping notices are sent, whether texts are ever used for payment issues, and what customers should never be asked to share. Interac notes that with Interac e-Transfer, the money itself does not travel by email or text; only the notification and deposit instructions do. That distinction matters and should be explained to staff and customers alike. (Interac)
Stores should also verify sensitive requests outside the original channel, especially when payment changes, urgent account action, shipping fees, or invoice updates are involved. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre advises businesses to know who they are dealing with, avoid giving out information on unsolicited calls, limit employee authority where appropriate, and watch for anomalies. Get Cyber Safe also emphasizes urgency and requests for sensitive information as common phishing red flags. (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)
Just as importantly, incidents should be reported. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says fraud and cybercrime can be reported online, whether you are a victim or a witness, and advises victims to contact financial institutions and local police as quickly as possible. Reporting does not just document damage. It helps expose patterns. (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)
Trust Is Now Part of Fraud Prevention
The jewellery industry has always understood the value of security in its physical form: alarms, safes, protocols, insurance, and vigilance on the sales floor. What this moment demands is the same seriousness in the digital and communications layer of the business.
The jewellers who win in this environment will not simply be the ones with the best product. They will be the ones whose clients feel safest buying from them, paying them, and hearing from them. In a marketplace where scams increasingly mirror real life, clarity becomes brand equity.
And that may be the real lesson in Interac’s latest findings: fraud prevention is no longer just about stopping losses. For jewellers, it is now about protecting trust before trust is quietly eroded. (Newswire)
References
Interac survey release, March 10, 2026. (Newswire)
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Fraud Prevention Month 2026. (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)
CFIB and Interac business fraud findings. (CFIB)
Interac fraud prevention and Interac e-Transfer security guidance. (Interac)
Get Cyber Safe phishing and smishing guidance. (Get Cyber Safe)
Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre protection and reporting guidance. (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca)
