(Toronto) Rising fraud in the auto, credit card and mortgage sectors is driven by growing financial pressures on consumers and fraudsters resorting to bold schemes, new data suggests.

A report from Equifax Canada shows that fraud in the automotive sector increased by 28% year over year, while credit card fraud saw a jump of 37.9%. The mortgage industry saw an 18.8% increase in fraud rates.

Carl Davies, head of fraud and identity theft prevention at Equifax Canada, believes that if interest rates remain high, trends in fraudulent activity could accelerate in the coming months.

He says factors such as supply chain issues in the auto industry have also encouraged fraudsters and thieves to more brazenly target car dealerships, alongside in-app identity fraud.

Mr Davies says car theft rings are more cunning than ever at using convincing fake IDs and car dealers should improve their verification processes to prevent fraud.

The report states that fraudsters are using synthetic identities, which are a combination of real and fake details, accounting for 68.5% of all fraudulent credit card applications.