Taxation scam making the rounds in Winnipeg

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This article was published 13/12/2017 (2326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fraudsters are again impersonating staff from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and their tactics are aggressive, police warn. 

Scammers call, email or text their victims while pretending to be CRA representatives and demand personal information before telling their victims they owe taxes.

The fraudsters have even told unsuspecting taxpayers police are on the way to arrest them for the supposed money-owed.  

“Even if you did owe money on your taxes, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights demands that CRA agents treat you professionally, courteously and fairly. If any contact from CRA is abusive or threatening, do not respond,” wrote a CRA spokesperson in an email. 

The Winnipeg Police Service is receiving more reports of these types of phone and email scams and want the public to be vigilant. They have previously issued a warning about the same scam. 

Police said the threatening tactics used by the scammers often intimidate people into paying up.

Once they scare their victims, the scammers tell them an easy way to pay their fake debts is by purchasing a prepaid credit or gift card or by going to a money transfer service. 

“Of course, the government doesn’t accept payment in bitcoin, iTunes cards or other gift cards. If you’re being asked to make a payment using a gift card, it’s not the CRA,” a CRA spokesperson said in an email. 

Once victims give the scammers their details, the money is gone, often sent overseas where it’s impossible to recover, police said. 

The fraudsters often target newcomers who don’t yet understand Canadian tax laws, said police. 

The CRA rarely, if ever, calls taxpayers at random and it never communicates through text message. 

“You can always assume that a text from ‘CRA’ is a fake,” the CRA spokesperson said.

If people do receive a purportedly-CRA-affiliated phone call they don’t trust, the CRA suggests double-checking the source. 

“We do call taxpayers on the phone from time to time, for various reasons, but if there’s anything suspicious or unprofessional about the call, hang up,” the CRA spokesperson said.

“You’ll never be penalized for double-checking that you’re talking to the real CRA.”

The revenue agency doesn’t communicate online unless someone has signed up for its online service. It does send email notifications when new mail is in a person’s secure CRA account, but never asks for personal information or requests payment through personal email.

“We also never send emails with exact dollar amounts or any specific personal details. If an email tells you how much you owe or how much your refund is, it’s a scam,” the spokesperson said.

The CRA suggests people always keep their personal information, including online access codes, user names, passwords and PINS, secret. 

It also suggests people choose who does their taxes carefully by checking their references and getting any other appropriate documents. 

Despite how frustrating scammers might be, the CRA suggests cutting off contact instead of giving them a piece of your mind, because even replying to an email or making a return phone call can be dangerous. 

“Even if you don’t enter your personal information, simply clicking on the link or verifying that your number is real can be enough to make you a victim of a phishing scheme,” the CRA spokesperson said. 

Phishing is when online fraudsters pretend to be an official source to entice their victims to click on links before stealing their personal information. 

The CRA and police suggest people report deceptive telemarketing and other scams to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, either online or by calling 1-888-495-8501.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca