Toronto woman said person posing as CRA agent tried to scam her

A Toronto woman says she received two phone calls from a person claiming to be from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), threatening her with legal action if she didn’t pay a significant sum of money.

The woman, who only wanted to be identified as Jacqueline, says she received the calls on Monday morning.

The first one, which went to voicemail, said:

“A warrant has been issued under your name and there are some previous charges which are likely to be pressed against you.”

The message urged her to call back. When she did, she said a woman claiming to be from CRA said there were inconsistencies in her tax returns that needed to be addressed.

“I supposedly owed between $20,000 and $30,000,” she told CityNews.

“Then she went on to say that if I do not comply with the demands they will issue a warrant for my arrest. That the police will be by my home within 48-72 hours, handcuff me and take me to jail where I will be held.”

The person told her she could resolve the issue by making a payment of $1,750. That’s when Jacqueline got suspicious and hung up.

Moments later, she received a second call.

The message stated:

“There is no option for you left in that case. We will be waiting for five minutes to give you time to call us back. If we don’t receive a call back we’re sorry to say I will have to forward your file to the local police department and get you arrested on the charges.”

Jacqueline then called police who informed her that she was being preyed on by scammers.

Police and CRA say the scam is a common one across the country, both by phone and email.

New immigrants are often targeted.

“With new Canadians, they are not really aware of our laws, so it’s a lot easier for them to fall victim,” said the RCMP’s Ann Koenig.

Police are reminding people that the CRA would never request personal information by phone or email.

If the CRA contacts you by phone, there are established processes in place to ensure your personal information is protected. Should you wish to verify the authenticity of a CRA telephone number, click here for CRA numbers.

To recap, the CRA says it would:

  • never request information from a taxpayer about a passport, health card, or driver’s licence.
  • never divulge taxpayer information to another person unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer.
  • never leave any personal information on an answering machine or ask taxpayers to leave a message with their personal information on an answering machine.

If you’re in doubt, ask yourself:

  • 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 or telephone number?
  • Am I confident I know who is asking for the information?
  • Is there a reason that the CRA may be calling? Do I have a tax balance outstanding?

Click here for the CRA’s full advisory on telephone and email scams.

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