It’s tax season and unfortunately this means criminals will be ramping up their efforts to impersonate the Canada Revenue Agency and extort money from you.
Chatham-Kent Police Service officials say this type of fraud/scam often starts with a call from a person claiming to be with the CRA.
“This person will tell you that you must pay them or go to jail… if you stay on the line the next step is getting money,” stated Const. Douglas Littlewood in a press release.
“This fraud often requires the victim to purchase large amounts of pre-paid credit cards and then forward the codes to the fake CRA agent. This allows them to transfer all funds from your cards to other sources.”
Police officials say the Federal Government of Canada will never threaten you and require you to buy large amounts of pre-paid gift cards and pre-paid credit cards.
If people are truly worried about police intervention, hang up the phone and call the CRA at 1-800-959-8281, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To report the fraud call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501, Monday to Friday8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“If you lose money because of a fraud you can report it to police,” Littlewood said.
