Sudbury Police Warn of Phone Scam Pretending to be CRA
Sudbury Police are urging the public to be vigilant of a phone scam sweeping Ontario, which involves fraudulent calls from people pretending to be the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
These calls are fake says the police, and usually involves the caller pretending to be working for the CRA, seeking to get identity knowledge and financial data from individuals. The scam is looking for people to give this information and the result is typically identity theft and stolen money and bank details. People are saying those who are unclear on CRA operations are the most vulnerable.
The scam typically sees a caller pretend to be a CRA operative who says the individual risks going to jail, having bank accounts closed, or having a house seized. To stop this the scammer says the individual can make an instant credit card transaction to avoid the bogus CRA fine.
If you get such a call, hang up immediately and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by telephone at 1-888-495-8501 (from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time) or through their online reporting tool at http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/reportincident-signalerincident/index-eng.htm
If you suspect you or a family member may be a victim of fraud or have been tricked into giving personal or financial information, contact police.
The Canada Revenue Agency:
•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.
For more information on the Canada Revenue Agency and this telephone scam, visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/security
