Image Credit: Shutterstock
June 12, 2017 - 2:04 PM
KELOWNA – RCMP say Canada Revenue Agency scams are on the rise again in the Okanagan.
In many of the recent cases, someone who claims to represent the CRA calls saying taxes are owed, according Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey in a media release.
“The suspect usually requests immediate payment by credit card or will convince the victim to purchase a prepaid credit card and demand that they call the suspect back immediately with the information,” O’Donaghey says in the release. “The taxpayer is often threatened with court charges, jail or even deportation.”
The release says the CRA recommends anyone who receives one of these calls phone the CRA directly at 1-800-959-8281.
The CRA will never request prepaid credit cards or gift cards as payment, will not send emails containing details of a tax refund or Interac e-transfer payments, will never ask for information about your passport, health services card or driver’s licence and will not leave personal information on your voice mail service.
O’Donaghey recommends hanging up on the caller and only reporting the incident to police if you lost money.
For more information on fraud prevention, visit Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2017