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Telephone Scams

Once again the ‘scammers’ are out in full force!  Now that income tax time has come around, they are working the phone lines claiming to be calling from the Canada Revenue Agency and demanding money for ‘supposedly’ back taxes owing.  This scam has been increasing in the past couple of months.  If you receive such calls, please report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.  Below is an article from the Canada Revenue Agency website to make our readers aware and to beware of any calls received asking for money or threatening legal action and/or arrest.

Beware of new telephone scams

Ottawa, Ontario, … The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is noting an increase in telephone scams where the caller claims to be from the CRA but is not, and is asking Canadians to beware—these calls are fraudulent and could result in identity and financial theft.

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.

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

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.

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?
• Am I confident I know who is asking for the information?

The CRA has strong practices to protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information. The confidence and trust that individuals and businesses have in the CRA is a cornerstone of Canada’s tax system. For more information about the security of taxpayer information and other examples of fraudulent communications, go to www.cra.gc.ca/security.

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

For information on scams or to report deceptive telemarketing contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online atwww.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or toll free at 1-888-495-8501.If you believe you may be the victim of fraud or have given personal or financial information unwittingly, contact your local police service.