Tax Time Means CRA Frauds

Ontario Provincial Police | Mar 14, 2018

The OPP are reminding the public that it is tax time again, which often means an increase of C RA (Canada Revenue Office) tax frauds.

The OPP are reminding the public of the following:

The CRA communicates with customers by mail.

The CRA does not collect money by way of emails, text messages, phone calls, using money service businesses or by pre-paid debit/credit cards.

The CRA do not call and threaten to put people in jail. Fraudsters tend to be aggressive in their behaviour on the phone, and they often create a sense of urgency which may cause the victim to not verify the story. Fraudsters use fear to intimidate victims into paying fake bills.

The OPP are reminding the public to not provide any personal information.

To avoid becoming a victim, police advise you to hang up, check and verify the information with CRA by calling a trusted phone number in which you have found and not the number provided by the caller. 

Police are advising to only call your local police if y ou are a victim of a fraud, otherwise you can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) and file a report with the CAFC by calling 1-888-495-8501 (Monday to Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm EST) or by using their online reporting tool at www.antifraudcentre.ca or Crime Stoppers at                   1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com/start.htm