1-in-10 Canadians hit by Web ID theft

TORONTO, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- About 10 percent of Canadians who shop online report being victims of identity theft, a survey published Wednesday said.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Center, which is operated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, says Canadians this year have reported 8,048 cases of identity theft, with $7.3 million in losses, the Canwest News Service reported.

That surpasses all of 2007, when 9,971 cases of identity theft worth $6.4 million were reported.

The survey by Ipsos Reid was commissioned by PayPal Canada and found the province of Ontario was hardest hit, with 12 percent of online shoppers reporting ID theft. Alberta was second with 9 percent of online shoppers reporting fraud. British Columbia and Quebec were third with 8 percent of shoppers reporting fraud, while the balance of the provinces reported less than 6 percent of identity theft, the report said.

The survey was conducted Aug. 19-26 among more than 1,000 Canadians and the poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.