OPP on the offensive with fraudsters impersonating the CRA

As you get ready to start filing your taxes, scam artists are figuring out ways to use the Canada Revenue Agency as a way to get your money.

The Ontario Provincial Police is sounding the alarm about scammers — at this time of year in particular, when doing taxes is top of mind for many people.

East Algoma Provincial Police Constable Bev Gauthier says her detachment received more than 100 calls about CRA scams last year.

"Most of the victims were female," she said. "There was a lot of older folks. These people are honest people and, when they get a call … they believe they're really talking to the CRA."

Gauthier says she deals with victims of fraud who have lost a substantial amount of money. In one case, a man lost $9,000.

"Those fraudsters are really good at what they do," she said. "The language and their webpages, everything looks legit."

Gauthier says the OPP and RCMP have videos on Youtube to help education the public about scams. She says another valuable resource is The Little Black Book of Scams from the Competition Bureau of Canada.

"It's about every scam in the whole wide world," she said.

"I've ordered a few boxes for my area but you can go online to the Competition Bureau and you can download it yourself and have a read."

The OPP is offering the following tips to prevent scams from fraudsters impersonating the CRA:

• In most cases, the CRA will use registered mail to contact consumers - not email or phone.
• Contact the CRA directly to confirm you owe back taxes or are entitled to a refund.
• Never provide personal information over the telephone, by text or email.
• The CRA would never request payment by money service business, iTunes gift cards or bitcoin.
• For more information about frauds involving the CRA, visit www.cra‐arc.gc.ca
• If you've shared personal information, contact Equifax and Trans Union to place fraud alerts on your account.
• If you've shared banking information with the scammers, contact your financial institution to place alerts on your account.