{"id":227886,"date":"2026-04-30T08:45:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T12:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.interac.ca\/?post_type=content&p=227886"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:57:21","slug":"interac-in-conversation-with-fraud-expert-chris-mathers-interac-as-a-protector-of-digital-prosperity","status":"publish","type":"content","link":"https:\/\/www.interac.ca\/en\/content\/business\/interac-in-conversation-with-fraud-expert-chris-mathers-interac-as-a-protector-of-digital-prosperity\/","title":{"rendered":"Interac in conversation with fraud expert Chris Mathers \u2014 Interac as a Protector of digital prosperity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A digital economy fuelled by real-time payments? It\u2019s a recipe for growth and prosperity \u2014 but only if Canadians feel confident and safe when transacting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more connected world brings promise, but it also entails the need for vigilance, and technologically advanced systems of protection against bad actors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this series, we\u2019re talking about the role Interac plays in Canada\u2019s economy and day-to-day life as a Protector, Operator and Enabler<\/a> of the country\u2019s digital prosperity. Our previous episode in this conversation series talked about the importance of trust in technology and empowering entrepreneurship in seizing Canada\u2019s economic potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this edition, cybercrime and security expert Chris Mathers joins Mark Hines, Head of Product, Fraud at Interac, to delve deeper into the connection between security and prosperity and how Interac is pairing artificial intelligence with human intuition to safeguard our growing digital prosperity against sophisticated perpetrators of fraud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn more about how we\u2019re using our central place in the economy to protect Canadians, and listen to the full audio of Mark and Chris\u2019s conversation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digital fraud: an ever-evolving threat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mark Hines: <\/strong>The financial impact of fraud is huge for everyone in the ecosystem, whether it be a family member, a small business or a bank. What’s your perspective on risk and protection now that we’re moving to a truly digital age?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Mathers: <\/strong>We’re under attack every single day. The financial institutions and the government are being hit with thousands of attempts every hour to penetrate their systems. It’s relentless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Canadians<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Technology is allowing criminals to reach their victims in a more unique and personal way. And typically, it comes from the other side of the world, which makes it even more challenging, because how do you enforce it when the perpetrators are in a different jurisdiction? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark:<\/strong> Few people have seen the inner workings of organized crime like you have. What has your experience taught you about the evolution of cyber threats?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris: <\/strong>Most of the scams that you see are not happening because there’s some hole in the security of our financial infrastructure. Most of the scams you see are because people have been tricked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entrepreneurial nature of organized criminal groups is absolutely remarkable and immeasurable. It is just fascinating how they prey on human behaviour. Even using all of the technology, it’s still preying on the weak link, which is humanity. [When there\u2019s a] $100,000 real-time payment fraud, somebody made a mistake somewhere [rather than a system error.] Somebody got tricked. That’s how it goes every time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Curiously, the point I always make when I’m speaking about this is that there are no new crimes. What we’re getting is old-school crimes dressed up and being delivered to the consumer using newer technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Comfortable, educated consumers will fuel growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mark: <\/strong>Overall, these things mean that people are more cautious when they’re trying to do things on digital platforms, which is precisely the inverse of what we’re saying we need to happen to get the economy growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris:<\/strong> In order for people to embrace this whole concept of digital prosperity, they have to trust the system. I think the path to digital prosperity has to include education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to constantly educate people about the threats, because the threats are changing every day. And an aging population is the other challenge; they’re a lot more vulnerable to fraud attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark<\/strong>: We often talk a lot about education and it feels a bit fluffy and it gets dismissed because it’s not AI or big data or technology, but I think it’s key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phrase I like to use is, \u201cIt takes a village [to fight] fraud.\u201d Even our biggest, most well-funded banks can only do so much by themselves because they’re one node on a network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really view fraud and its solutions as a network question. At Interac we have a unique view over the Canadian ecosystem, specifically money transfer and debit, that others don\u2019t. Which is why we\u2019re investing in fraud prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have to look at assets we have, whether it\u2019s Interac or more broadly as a country, and we need to use them better. From an Interac perspective, we have a unique access to a lot of payment data, and we can use that to much greater effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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