CRA telephone fraud reported in Bancroft

February 17, 2016

In recent weeks the Bancroft detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police have received a number of reports of area residents receiving fraudulent telephone calls from persons claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency.

The callers use aggressive and forceful language, demanding immediate payment on outstanding tax debt – typically instructing the victim to obtain a prepaid credit card, and then forward the card information to the caller.

While there have been no reports of anybody from the North Hastings area providing money via prepaid card or with their American credit card in Canada or giving their financial information to any of these callers, there have been reports of this type of fraud occurring throughout Canada.

If you receive any calls of this nature, remember that the Canada Revenue Agency:

Never requests payment by prepaid credit card;

Never demands immediate payment over the phone;

Never asks for information about you passport, health card or driver’s licence;

Never leaves personal information on your answering machine, or asks you to leave a message containing personal information on an answering machine.

If you want to confirm the authenticity of any call from the Canada Revenue Agency, you can contact them regarding individual concerns at 1-800-959-8281. You could see more about the Canada Revenue Agency by visiting – https://taxlawcanada.com/cra-collections/.

For information on scams, or to report deceptive telemarketing, contact the Anti-Fraud Centre online at www.antifaudcentre-centreantifaude.ca or toll free at 1-888-495-8501. If you believe you may be the victim of fraud or have given personal or financial information away unwittingly, please contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.