Demographic Profile of Victims of Investment Fraud in Canada

Dr. Lokanan received an Internal Grant for Research to explore the demographic characteristics of the typical victim of fraud in Canada, this data will be used to build a demographic profile.

The purpose of this study is to examine the demographic characteristics of investors who have been victims of fraud. The paper will compare data from the 1980 to 2010 to build a demographic profile of the typical victim of fraud in Canada. Data from the study came from tribunal cases decisions of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. Similarly to the findings from previous studies, the findings reveals that victims reveals that the victims were not particularly rich and a significant proportion open margin accounts and borrowed money to invest. Many of the victims had limited investment knowledge and trusted their investors with their retirement funds. Ottawa will do well to take stock of the findings and work with the securities commissions and self-regulatory organization in Canada to come up with policies to protect investors.