Strathcona County RCMP Warn Public About The CRA Phone Scam

 

Strathcona County, Alta. – Strathcona County RCMP are warning the public about an ongoing scam in which people all across the county receive phone calls from individuals impersonating Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) employees. These people are scammers.

The scammers tell taxpayers they have a warrant for their arrest and in order to not get arrested they have to pay money, buy gift cards or bitcoin and provide them to the scammers.

The scammers have now introduced a new twist. Strathcona county RCMP have received reports that the CRA scammers are now using the Strathcona RCMP County Detachment’s complaint line, (780) 476-7741, to convince victims they are not scammers.

They use spoofing mechanisms that allow them to choose any phone number they wish. Many people are aware of this scam and will use the internet to check the phone number. When the phone number belongs to a RCMP detachment, victims start to believe that the warrant may be legitimate.

RCMP want the public to know that the Canadian Revenue Agency would never request payment over the phone, they do not accept gift cards or bitcoin as payment. In addition, the police will never request payment on behalf of the CRA.

If you or a family member has fallen victim to this fraud, please report to the Strathcona County RCMP at (780) 467-7741, as well as the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. You have two ways to make a report to the CAFC; either by phone at 1-888-495-8501 (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) or through their online reporting tool at http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/reportincident-signalerincident/index-eng.htm.