A Coquitlam man is devastated after losing $8,000 to a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scammer.
The scam — in which a person claims to be from the CRA and demands payment for taxes owed, threatening court charges, jail or deportation — popped up frequently last year. The 65-year-old man, who asked that his name not be used, got a message on Jan. 29 from such a scammer and returned the call Monday morning. In the meantime, he verified the number as being from the CRA office in Ottawa and believed the call was legitimate.
"They had my social insurance number, they had my name, the had the information from my house," the man told The Tri-City News.
The scammers told him there had been a mistake on his income taxes and suggested they could reach a "deal outside of court."
The man said the caller was "very forceful, so strong" and he believed it was a CRA officer. When he said he would like to check the details with his accountant, he was told the sooner he handed over the money, the less risk he had of being arrested. He received another call a short time later from someone purporting to be a police officer; when he checked the number, it was the Coquitlam RCMP's non-emergency line and, again, believed the call to be legitimate.
"It was very scary," he said. "They said, 'We want to arrest you.' I was so confused, I cannot believe it… that I paid that much money."
The man said he was willing to share his story so others don't fall prey to the same scam.
"The money I lost is one thing but the other thing is this feeling and my mind, that somebody hurt me," he said. "Somebody did this to me, I cannot forget that."
Coquitlam RCMP confirmed the CRA scam was one of the most popular ways to fraudulently obtain money in 2015 and continues to be an issue.
"Understandably, the victim felt threatened and was fearful of being arrested if he did not comply with payment," Const. Jamie Phillipson said in a press release. "Under no circumstances would the Canadian Revenue Agency or any law enforcement threaten arrest for money owed."
Police are investigating the incident and hope to identify the caller.
Anyone who receives such a call should hang up immediately and notify the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501.
The CRA states on its website that calls from its offices follow specific procedures to make sure personal information is protected. To confirm the authenticity of a CRA phone number, call 1-800-959-5525 (business-related calls) or 1-800-959-8281 (individual concerns).
To help identify possible scams, the CRA:
• never requests prepaid credit cards;
• never asks for information about your passport, health card or driver's licence;
• never shares your taxpayer information with another person;
• never leaves personal information on your answering machine or asks you to leave a message containing personal information on an answering machine.
For more information, visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca.
spayne@tricitynews.com
@spayneTC
