Archive

Area residents continue to be targets of CRA scam

April 21, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Orangeville Police are reminding residents to be vigilant when they receive, either by telephone, mail, text message or email, any communication that claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requesting personal information such as a social insurance number, credit card number, bank account number, or passport number.

For the past year, the CRA scam has been one of the more prevalent scams reported to police.

The fraudsters can be very convincing and aggressive in their attempt to obtain money from their victims.  Beware of tax fraud scams.  If you get a call or email that sounds like a scam, it probably is!

These scam artists may insist that this personal information is needed so that the taxpayer can receive a refund or a benefit payment.  Cases of fraudulent communication could also involve threatening or coercive language to scare individuals into paying fictitious debt to the CRA.

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.

The CRA will not threaten or use nasty language, ask for personal information of any kind by email or text message, request payments by prepaid credit cards, leave personal information on an answering machine or give taxpayer information to another person, unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer.

If you have received a call saying you owe money to the CRA, you can call 1-800-959-8281 to check your account.  If you believe you may be the victim of fraud or have given personal or financial information by mistake, call the Orangeville Police Service at 519-941-2522.

Readers Comments (0)