Public Safety Alert, Warning: CRA telephone tax scam, Crime prevention advice offered

Public Safety Alert, Warning: CRA telephone tax scam, Crime prevention advice offered

Wednesday, June 6, 2018 - 12:59 PM
Financial Crimes:  416-808-7300

Toronto Police Service Financial Crimes would like to warn the public about the ongoing Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) telephone scam.

It starts with someone calling, claiming to be with the CRA, and saying you owe overdue taxes. The callers are aggressive and often claim you can be arrested if the money is not paid immediately. The callers insist the money be paid by way of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, gift cards, credit card, or through Western Union.

In some cases, the fraudsters use a program to display the telephone number of either the CRA or local police on the intended victim's caller ID display.

Numerous residents have continued to receive telephone calls from these scammers. The public should be aware that police do not collect money for the Canada Revenue Agency. Although everyone is at risk of falling victim to these scams, older people are among the most vulnerable.

The CRA will not:

- send email with a link and ask you to divulge personal or financial information
- ask for personal information of any kind by email or text message.
- request payments by prepaid credit cards
- give taxpayer information to another person, unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer
- leave personal information on an answering machine

What should you do?

Hang up the phone immediately. It's not rude and could help protect you.

Don't give out any personal information, including identification numbers, passwords or financial information.

Who should you contact?

If you, or a family member, has fallen victim to this fraud, please report it to your local police service, as well as the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC). There are two ways to make a report to the CAFC: either by phone at 1-888-495-8501 (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) or through their online reporting tool at http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.

Anyone who thinks they have fallen victim to this scam should contact their local police service.

If you would like to learn more about the CRA scam, please click on the following link: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/.

For more news, visit TPSnews.ca.

Constable Caroline de Kloet, Corporate Communications, for Detective Constable Diane Kelly, Financial Crimes