Canadians can spot scams — but their cyber habits say otherwise
What happens when Canadians receive a data breach notification?
The survey’s most striking finding may be how Canadians respond once a breach occurs — or don’t.
Among respondents aged 18 to 34, one in five say they would ignore a data breach notification. They would wait instead for suspicious activity to appear before taking action. That figure drops to 11 percent for Canadians aged 55 and older. Nationally, 14 percent take the same wait-and-see approach.
Even among those who say they would act, the response is uneven. Two-thirds — 66 percent — said they would reach out to their bank or financial institution.
Fewer than half (44 percent) would reset the password on the compromised account. Just 24 percent would call a credit bureau to set up a fraud alert.
“One of the biggest mistakes consumers make is assuming that nothing needs to be done until suspicious activity appears,” said Octavia Howell, chief information security officer at Equifax Canada. “If your personal information has been exposed, it’s important to take the notification seriously, secure affected accounts and watch for unusual activity.”
