Posted 2015-06-26
The Saanich Police would like to remind the public to be cautious about disclosing personal information over the phone after several reports of “contact” from someone purporting to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
“Several times within this past week, we have been made aware of what appears to be a new type of attempt to defraud members of our community of their personal savings” Sgt. Steve Eassie said. “Thankfully, no money has been exchanged”.
In one incident, a citizen attended a financial institution to transfer funds. The ebank employee recognised signs of a possible scam and was able to prevent the money transfer from taking place.
Victims have advised that they have received a phone call from a caller stating that they are an official with the CRA and that repeated warning letters to the victim have gone without any reply. The caller then threatens that unless the victim transfers money, between $2000 and $5000 into an account, the Police will be contacted and the victim will be arrested.
“This is a scam. This is not how the CRA operates” Sgt. Steve Eassie said.
Since early 2014, there have been numerous email and phone scams that have been in use, prompting CRA to post information on their website:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/nwsrm/lrts/2014/l140307-eng.html
The following has been taken from the CRA website: If the CRA does contact you by telephone, 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, contact the CRA directly: business-related calls, contact 1-800-959-5525 and for individual concerns, contact 1-800-959-8281.
File 2015-13241
Sgt. Steve Eassie #158