CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — It can come in the form of a phone call, email or text message.
“If you don’t pay, you’re going to jail.’’
“The police are coming to arrest you right now.’’
These are some of the things that people who have received the threatening tax scam phone call have heard. This scam reappears every tax season with a new spin on the same old con. Fraudsters pretend to be calling on behalf of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and demand payment for overdue taxes or try to gain access to your personal information.
“The CRA tax scam call is one of the most frequent scams we hear about at BBB (Better Business Bureau),” says BBB president and CEO Peter Moorhouse. “Although international law agencies have intervened, and even shut some of these call centres down, the scam is still very prevalent, especially with tax season approaching.”
This scam is most commonly performed via an unsolicited telephone call. The CRA "agent" calls saying that you owe back taxes and proceeds to try and coerce you into paying fees via wire transfer or prepaid credit or debit cards. If you do not comply, the caller will threaten that you will be arrested, and the police are on their way.
Another spin on this scam is the "agent" will call you claiming that they are issuing you a tax return and try to get your personal and financial information, so they can send your refund.
The information that scammers collect can be used to steal your identity. These impersonators are growing increasingly sophisticated and will go to great lengths to make themselves appear legitimate.
They will even give you fake employee badge numbers and can spoof their caller ID to look like the call is coming from CRA headquarters.
Sometimes, scammers will follow-up their calls with emails that look like they are coming from an official source, trying to further legitimize themselves, and eliciting urgency for the victim to make payment.
The real CRA will listen to you, give you opportunities to ask questions and make any appeals, they may ask you for details such as name or date of birth to confirm your identity.
The CRA said that sometimes its agents will contact taxpayers by phone first and it is possible that a taxpayer could receive a call from the CRA outside of regular business hours. However, the agency provides the following information to help taxpayers protect themselves against these scams.
The CRA will never:
- Ask for personal information by email or text message
- Request payment by prepaid credit card
- Share your tax information with another person or organization, unless you have agreed that it can be shared
- Leave personal information on an answering machine
- Threaten or use nasty language
If you have fallen victim to this scam, contact your local police service. If you believe your Canadian Social Insurance Number has been stolen, contact Service Canada at 1-800-206-7218. For more information, see Social Insurance Number (Service Canada website).