The proportion of mobile phone users who have received “scam” phone calls has dropped from 50% in 2022 to 42% now.
Vancouver, BC [January 3, 2024] – Practically three-in-five British Columbians have been targeted by a specific type of unsolicited phone call or message in the past two months, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative sample of British Columbians, 59% of mobile phone users have received phone calls and/or phone messages where an individual speaks Cantonese or Mandarin, up eight points since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in December 2021.
Practically seven-in-ten mobile phone users in Metro Vancouver (69%) have received phone calls or messages in a foreign language over the past two months. The proportions are lower in the Fraser Valley (55%), Vancouver Island (45%), Southern BC (42%) and Northern BC (27%).
The incidence of “scam” phone calls and messages fell in late 2023 compared to late 2021. Across British Columbia, 42% of mobile phone users (-8) say they received phone calls and/or phone messages from an individual purporting to represent a government agency (such as the Canada Revenue Agency) over the past two months.
Residents of the Fraser Valley are more likely to have received these “scam” phone calls or messages over the past two months (50%) than those who live in Vancouver Island (44%), Northern BC (42%), Metro Vancouver (41%) and Southern BC (34%).
Fewer than one-in-five mobile phone users in British Columbia (18%, =) have received text messages asking them if they support a specific party or policy sent by an individual they do not know.
“Mobile phone users in British Columbia aged 55 and over are more likely to receive calls or messages in a foreign language (63%) than their counterparts aged 18-to-34 (53%),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Conversely, about one-in-four mobile phone users in British Columbia aged 18-to-34 (24%) have dealt with messages of a political nature over the past two months.”
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from December 8 to December 10, 2023, among 800 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca