RCMP issue warning regarding phone, mail and e-mail fraud in the region
By Rossland Telegraph
The Crime Prevention unit of the Trail RCMP have issued a warning today regarding an e-mail and phone fraud scam that has been taking place across Canada and in our own backyard in the Kootenays over the past week.
Police are urging citizens to use extra caution when receiving what appears to be either a phone call or e-mail from the Canada Revenue Agency.
There have already been several cases of the fraudulent activity taking place in and around the Rossland area including a writer from The Rossland Telegraph. “Three times this week I had voice mails left on my line claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency urgently claiming that I must call them back immediately with my SIN number and Credit Card number to clear up overdue tax bills to avoid further penalties,” explained Andrew Zwicker of the Rossland Telegraph. “I had not called them back, questioning their disregard for privacy legislation and deliberately asking for SIN and Credit Card information through voice mail. A quick google search of the 1-800 number showed a host of fraud complaints from the number.” The Fraudsters have been contacting potential victims through telephone calls, mail and e-mail. “The communication claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) but it is not,” wrote Gordon Sims, Crime Prevention Officer for the Trail & Greater District Detachment. “In all these cases, the communication requests personal information, such as a social insurance, credit card, bank account, and passport numbers, from the taxpayer. These fraudulent communications are also referred to as scams or phishing.” One common thread between the reported cases has been various forms of the message that personal information is needed so that the taxpayer can either receive a refund or benefit payment or avoid paying a penalty. An additional commonality has been e-mails referring unsuspecting victims to a website resembling the CRA’s website at which point the person is asked to verify their identity by entering personal information. Both the CRA and the RCMP are warning taxpayers not to respond to such fraudulent communications. If you have any concerns that you may be the recipient or target of such a scam you are asked to hang up or discontinue communication until you can verify the authenticity of the 1-800 number the calls are coming from. To verify the 1-800 number is a CRA number you can call 1-800-O-Canada (1-800-622-6232). If the call has come from a non 1-800 number you can contact the CRA directly by using the numbers found in the Contact Us section at www.cra-arc.gc.ca/cntc/phn-eng.html If you suspect you have already been a victim of this fraud the RCMP are asking you to contact their Phonebusters at 1-888-495-8501 or e-mail them through info@phonebusters.com.
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