CRA issues warning about scam calls, offers tips on how to avoid getting scammed

The Canada Revenue Agency has issued a warning about scammers posing as the agency, and has provided tips on how to avoid getting scammed.

The CRA has outlined the reasons that it may call you. It says it would only try to reach you if you’re in any of these circumstances:

• If you owe tax or money to a government program – a collections officer may call you to discuss your file and ask you to make a payment. In this case, you may need to provide some information about your financial situation.
• If you did not file your income tax and benefit return – we may call you to ask for the missing return.
• If you did not file your GST/HST return.
• If we have questions about the tax and benefit documents you sent.
• If you operate a small business, we may call to offer free tax help through our Liaison Officer program.
• If we have questions about your new business registration.
• If we have questions regarding a limited review of your Corporate Return.

Further, the CRA says you should make sure that the person calling you is an actual CRA employee before you hand over any money or information over the phone. You can do this by asking for the caller’s name and office location and tell them that you first want to verify their identity.

The agency also suggests that you check the status of your tax account, and make sure the CRA has your current address and email.

Lastly, it suggests that you look for warning signs such as the caller pressuring you to act immediately. You may also want check if you received a notice about the subject of the call.

The CRTC recently implemented a rule that requires Canadian carriers to implement universal network-level blocking of calls with blatantly illegitimate caller identification to address spam calls.

Source: Canada Revenue Agency