Police warn of Canada Revenue Agency phone scam
Wellington County OPP would like to remind residents to be aware of a telephone scam.
The scam involves threatening taxpayers or using aggressive and forceful language to scare them into paying fictitious debt owed to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The victim receives a phone call from a person claiming to work for the CRA and saying that taxes are owed.
The caller requests immediate payment by credit card or convinces the victims to purchase a prepaid credit card and to call back immediately with the information.
The taxpayer is often threatened with court charges, jail or deportation.
If you get such a call, hang up and call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
These types of communications are not from the CRA. To help you identify possible scams, use the following guidelines.
The CRA:
- never requests prepaid credit cards;
- never asks for information about your passport, health card or driver’s licence;
- never shares your taxpayer information with another person, unless you have provided the appropriate authorization; and
- never leaves personal information on your answering machine or asks you to leave a message containing your personal information on an answering machine.
When in doubt, ask yourself the following:
- is there a reason that the CRA may be calling? Do I have a tax balance outstanding?
- is the requester asking for information I would not include with my tax return?
- is the requester asking for information I know the CRA already has on file for me?
- how did the requester get my email address or telephone number? and
- am I confident I know who is asking for the information?
For more information on the security of taxpayer information and other examples of fraudulent communications, visit the website www.cra.gc.ca/security.
