The RCMP believes fraud in Canada is approaching the size and scope of the drug trade.

March is fraud prevention month and the RCMP is taking part in a two-day conference in Ottawa called Preventing Fraud in the Digital Age.

RCMP Insp. Kerry Petryshyn is head of major fraud for RCMP in Ottawa and often opens his discussion with audiences by asking how many of them have been affected by a drug crime in the last year.

"Generally in a crowd of 250 people, I'll get five or six that will raise their hand," Petryshyn told CBC's Chad Pawson.

Petryshyn next asks his audience how many have been affected by fraud-related crimes such as email fraud, spam and compromised credit cards.

"By the time I'm done my list, everybody has their hand up," he said.

$10B in losses every year

Petryshyn does more than straw polls to determine the scope of fraud in Canada. He said research shows no other crime affects more Canadians.

Mass marketing fraud alone, according to Petryshyn, accounts for nearly $10 billion in fraud losses every year.

"That's over a million victims," he said.

Total losses are actually $30 billion a year, police estimate.

"Which is pretty close to the drug industry here in Canada, however a lot more victims," he said.

Police estimate only about five per cent of fraud victims bother to report these crimes. Petryshyn said police believe that 80 per cent of all fraud in Canada is linked to organized crime.

On display at the conference will be a new analytical system out of the United Kingdom that helps collect fraud data from multiple sources.

"Fraud is an offense that is woven in amongst all the other criminal activities, so smugglers and drug dealers and all other sorts of criminals also all commit fraud," said Petryshyn. "So by gathering together that fraud information, what you end up doing is being able to identify these large criminal networks."

MP Julian Fantino, the Minister of State for Seniors, said financial abuse and fraud are real problems for older Canadians, who are often the targets of scammers.

“While anyone can be a victim of fraud, this type of abuse is the number one crime against older Canadians,” Fantino said in a release. “Fraud Prevention Month provides us with an opportunity to educate ourselves on the signs of fraud and financial abuse, and on how seniors can better protect themselves.”

This month RCMP wants Canadians to do more to protect themselves.

Petryshyn said that while the internet is a fertile place for fraud to occur, it's also a powerful tool to gather cautionary tales.

"[There's a] pretty good chance if somebody's been ripped off they're going to write about it somewhere," said Petryshyn.

"If you query yourself the name or the information and the product you're buying, the company you're dealing with or whatever you have, chances are pretty good if someone's been ripped off they're written about it and you can see that and then use that information."