Did you receive a call from the CRA saying you owe them money? Did they threaten police action if you didn’t pay up? Scammers can spoof the call display so it looks legitimately from CRA. Unfortunately these scams are on the rise and people are being separated from their hard earned money in the process. Although this scam may be new to you, it’s old news to the CRA. They have issued the following tips for Canadians…
The CRA will not do the following:
- send email with a link and ask you to divulge personal or financial information; Exception: If you call the CRA to request a form or a link for specific information, a CRA agent will forward the information you are requesting to your email during the telephone call. This is the only circumstance in which the CRA will send an email containing links.
- ask for personal information of any kind by email or text message.
- request payments by prepaid credit cards.
- give taxpayer information to another person, unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer.
- leave personal information on an answering machine.
When in doubt, ask yourself the following:
- Did I sign up to receive online mail through My Account, My Business Account, or Represent a Client?
- Did I provide my email address on my income tax and benefit return to receive mail online?
- Am I expecting more money from the CRA?
- Does this sound too good to be true?
- Is the requester asking for information I would not provide in my tax return?
- Is the requester asking for information I know the CRA already has on file for me?
If you have questions or want to read more about how you can protect yourself check out Canada Revenue Agency’s website here.
