There are many fraud types and new ones are invented daily. Some are imaginative, some are aggressive, and some appear legitimate!
Be vigilant if you receive, either by telephone, mail, text message or email, a 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.
These scams may insist that this personal information is needed so that you can receive a refund or a benefit payment. Cases of fraudulent communication could also involve threatening or coercive language attempting to scare you into paying a fictitious debt to the CRA. Other communications may urge you to visit a fake CRA website where you are then asked to verify your identity by entering personal information. These are scams and you should never respond to these fraudulent communications or click on any of the links provided.
Canada Revenue Agency will never:
- Send emails with a link and ask you to divulge personal or financial information;
- 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 you;
- Leave personal information in a voice mail;
- Threaten, or use nasty language.
If you are in doubt about the validity of a communication claiming to be from the CRA, don’t panic! Ask your accountant to verify the information given, or call CRA at 1-800-959-8281 (individuals) or 1-800-959-5525 (business accounts) to verify. Don’t call the number displayed as it may be fraudulent.
If the communication is a scam, you can report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online, or by calling 1-888-495-8501.
