Fraser Valley – It’s bad enough when you receive a texting scam notice. You know the ones, send us info and money and your Nigerian, Tongo, Congolese relative will send you money, blah blah blah.
FortisBC has been dealing with recent scams.
But when a PR Officer withing the RCMP gets a text like this, you wonder — Didn’t anyone check out where this is going to, before they hit SEND?
RCMP are warning the public of criminals posing as Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees to solicit money.
“We are reminding everyone these fraudsters will target potential victims by telephone or email, at home or in the workplace,” says Corporal Mike Rail spokesperson for the UFVRD.
The scam follows a pattern where an unexpected contact is received from an individual claiming to be a representative of the CRA. As the fraud unfolds, the caller aggressively attempts to solicit the victim’s credit information to either demand an overdue tax payment or refund money.
“The communication appears official, the correspondence sent to me did,” says Corporal Mike Rail who was contacted by the scammers.
Some tips on how to protect yourself from being a victim of tax fraud:
· CRA officials will not ask for personal information by email.
· CRA does not request payment by prepaid credit cards.
· CRA does not threaten a client with court charges, jail or deportation.
To confirm you have been contacted by a CRA representative the public is encouraged to call the CRA at 1-800-959-8281 for individual concerns or 1-800-959-5525 for business- related calls.
Learn how to protect yourself from being a victim of fraud by visiting the RCMP or CRA on line.
