If you are targeted – Hang Up the Phone – RCMP
THUNDER BAY – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are advising about telephone scammers who are targeting people across Western Canada. The RCMP state, “Some recent telephone scams involve threatening taxpayers or using aggressive and forceful language to scare them into paying fictitious debt to the CRA. Victims receive 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”.
Police state, “If you get such a call, hang up and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. These calls are fraudulent and could result in identity and financial theft”.
These types of communication are not from the CRA. When the CRA calls you, it has established procedures in place to make sure your personal information is protected. If you want to confirm the authenticity of a CRA telephone number, call the CRA by using the numbers on its Telephone numbers page. The number for business-related calls is 1-800-959-5525. The number for calls about individual concerns is 1-800-959-8281.
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.
The CRA does not ask for money transfers or ask anyone to send money through Western Union. The CRA mentioned most people that have lost money to this scam had not owed any money and their taxes were in order.
For further information please go to the CRA website at www.cra-arc.gc.ca
