The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) warns you to beware of telephone and email scams that claim to be from the CRA but are not. These are phishing and other fraudulent scams that could result in identity and financial theft.
You should be especially aware of phishing telephone and email scams asking for information such as credit card, bank account, and passport numbers. The CRA would never ask for this type of information.
Email Scams
Some recent email scams involve telling you that you are entitled to a refund of a specific amount or telling you that your tax assessment has been verified and you are getting a tax refund. These emails often have CRA logos or Internet links that look official. Some contain obvious grammar or spelling mistakes.
Some of these scams ask for this personal information directly, and others refer to a website resembling the CRA’s, where you are asked to confirm your identity by entering personal information. You should not click on links included in these emails. Email scams may also contain embedded malicious software that can harm your computer and put your personal information at risk.
Telephone Scams
Some recent telephone scams involve threatening or forceful language to scare you into paying fictitious debt to the CRA.
The caller told victims they owed back taxes, and would be arrested if they didn’t pay the debt immediately.
In most cases, the caller has had some of the victim’s personal information, including their name, address and even bank account details.
Victims are told to pay the debt with prepaid credit cards or through a money transfer service, and are kept on the phone until the transaction is complete.
The CRA has established procedures in place to make sure your personal information is protected. If you want to confirm the authenticity of a CRA telephone number, call the CRA by using the number for business-related calls is 1-800-959-5525, for calls about individual concerns is 1-800-959-8281.
Guidelines from CRA
To help you identify possible telephone and email scams, you can use the following guidelines: The CRA:
- never asks for information about your passport, health card, or driver’s licence;
- never shares your taxpayer information with another person, unless you have provided the appropriate authorization; and
- never leaves personal information on your answering machine or asks you to leave a message containing your personal information on an answering machine.
When in doubt, ask yourself the following:
- Am I expecting 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?