Scam Call – Targets Seniors and Unprepared

THUNDER BAY – There is a telephone scam happening across Canada, but has been going on for several weeks in Thunder Bay. The caller states that they are with the Canada Revenue Agency and that the agency is filing a law suit for unpaid back taxes. People are being threatened that the police will be showing up to arrest them and put them in jail. This scam has impacted people here in the city, as the fraudulent callers are getting them to send them money to hold on on the law suit or imprisonment.

The entire telephone scam is a fraud.

Listen to the video – that is the message that the scammers are using. Share word on this with family and with friends, especially seniors or other potentially vulnerable individuals.

The recording of this call was made to a person here in Thunder Bay. There are other cities being targeted.

The RCMP and Thunder Bay Police are aware of this scam.

The Canada Revenue Agency state:

Occasionally, taxpayers may receive, either by telephone, mail, text message or email, a fraudulent communication that claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In all these cases, the communication requests personal information, such as a social insurance, credit card, bank account, and/or passport numbers, from the taxpayer.

These fraudulent communications typically insist that this personal information is needed so that the taxpayer can receive a refund or benefit payment. Other communications urge taxpayers to visit a fake CRA website where the taxpayer is then asked to verify their identity by entering personal information. These are SCAMS and taxpayers should NEVER respond to these fraudulent communications, or click on any of the links provided.

To better equip taxpayers to identify those communications that do not come from the CRA, the following general guidelines are provided.

If you have signed up for online mail (available through MyAccount, My Business Account and Represent a Client), the CRA will do the following:

• The CRA will send a registration confirmation email to the address provided once an individual or business has registered for the online mail service.
• The CRA will also send an email to the address provided to notify you when new online mail is available to view in the CRA’s secure online services portal.

The CRA will not do the following:

• The CRA will not send emails containing any links.
• The CRA will not request personal information of any kind from a taxpayer by email or text message.
• The CRA will not divulge taxpayer information to another person unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer.
• The CRA will not send emails in English or French only: all communications are in both official languages.
• The CRA will not leave any personal information on an answering machine.

When in doubt, ask yourself the following:

• Did I sign up to receive my online mail through MyAccount, My Business Account or Represent a Client?
• Did I provide my email address on my Individual Income Tax and Benefit return to receive my mail online?
• Am I expecting additional money from the CRA?
• Does this sound too good to be true?
• 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?
• Am I confident I know who is asking for the information?

The CRA will continue to post notifications of fraudulent communications as we become aware of them and encourages you to check our Web site should you have concerns.