As the tax season nears an end the RCMP continue to receive reports of, and wish to remind the public of the menacing CRA Scam.

Police continue to receive reports to police of the telephone scams where the caller claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) however is not. These calls are fraudulent and could result in identity and financial theft. Some recent telephone scams involve the suspect threatening taxpayers or using aggressive and forceful language to scare them into paying fictitious debt to the CRA. Victims often receive a phone call from a person claiming to work for the CRA who says that taxes are owed. The suspect usually requests immediate payment by credit card or will convince the victim to purchase a prepaid credit card and demand that they call the suspect back immediately with the information. The taxpayer is often threatened with court charges, jail or even deportation.

 

If you get such a call, hang up and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre of the RCMP.

To help you identify possible scams, use the following guidelines:

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA):

• Never requests prepaid credit cards;
• Never asks for information about your passport, health services card or driver’s licence;
• Never leaves personal information on your answering machine or voice mail service;

When in doubt, ask yourself the following:

• Is there a reason the CRA may be calling? DO I have a tax balance outstanding?
• Is the requester asking for information I would not include on my tax returns?
• Is the requester asking for information the CRA already has on file?