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Thursday, April 6, 2017
Fraud Warning - Taxation Scam
Winnipeg Police continue to
receive reports of attempts at phone-based Tax Scam.
The fraudsters will contact the victim
pretending to be the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or in some cases a police
officer. The fraudsters will try to obtain your personal information
and will then tell you that you have outstanding taxes. Unfortunately they
are often very aggressive even going as far as saying that they have the
police at the victim’s residence to arrest them or a family member if they do
not pay immediately. Winnipeg Police are aware that in at least one
case the fraudsters “spoofed” the victim’s home phone number when calling him
on his cell phone. This caused the victim to fear that government agents were
in his home to collect Taxes. The fraudsters also seem to target new
Canadians as they are not as familiar with the Canadian tax or justice system.
The fraudster will direct the victim to pay
their outstanding taxes by going to a store and purchasing a prepaid credit
or gift card or by going to a money transfer business. Once the
fraudster has the details from the prepaid card or the money transfer has
been sent, often out of Canada, the money is lost and cannot be recovered.
Tips
to remember:
The Canada Revenue Agency has your identity
information and will not use the phone to solicit it.
The CRA will never ask you to purchase gift cards
or to attend a money transfer business.
If you do receive a phone call, contact the CRA,
with a phone number that you look up, to confirm the details.
If you would like to learn more about tax scams
or other types of fraud, contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca
Protect yourself: never agree to requests for payment without
researching the validity of the caller.
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