The Toronto Police Service issued a warning to taxpayers Friday about a rise in attempted identity theft involving fraudsters posing as the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The Financial Crimes Unit is warning the public about “an ongoing scam involving fraudulent email communications”, purportedly coming from the CRA. It reports that it has received dozens of reports of emails claiming to be from the CRA, which either demand tax payments or promise refunds, and demand personal information before these balances can be paid, or refunds received.
Police reiterate the message that the CRA has previously put out, which is that it will never request information from taxpayers by email.
They also advise that recipients of these messages should protect themselves from fraud by not complying with the email, and contacting the CRA to verify the information; not clicking on any links within these emails, as these may compromise computers; and, reporting the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC).