By Laura Keil
Many area residents have been bombarded by automated phone calls claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency, and warning of dire consequences if the caller doesn’t press 1.
It is a known fraud scam and callers should hang up.
Local RCMP say just because its a 566 or 569 number does not mean it’s coming from a local number.
“They can program the computer that dials your number to fake the Caller ID, because people are more likely to trust and answer a local number,” said Corporal Jake Joslin.
Often the number of the scam changes each time, making blocking the number futile.
The phone scammer claims to be an employee of either the Canada Revenue Agency or Service Canada and claim that you:
- have a compromised SIN number
- have an outstanding case against you
- owe back taxes
- have unpaid balances
- committed a financial crime
They threaten that if you do not speak to them immediately, you’ll be arrested, fined or even deported.
The scammers may request payment via money service businesses, pre”paid cards/gift cards (iTunes, Google Play or Steam cards) or Bitcoin.
Anyone who receives a call can get more info here: https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm.
