A West Nipissing woman says she "panicked" when a caller claiming to be from the income tax department threatened her with fines and jail time if she didn't pay up.
Edna Webster says she had two calls Monday, the first from a man calling himself Eric Foster, who told her that she had been re-assessed.
"It was $4.500 and if I didn't pay it right away, a warrant has already been issued for my arrest. I was going to lose my house, my car, my bank account and go to jail for 90 days. I panicked, you know."
She asked him how it was possible and he blamed it on her "work income".
"Then I knew there was something fishy because I'm retired."
Foster said a letter had been sent, but Edna said she hadn't received it and could she have another.
At this point the fraudster admitted they "must have been a mistake" and she shouldn't be concerned.
"Then this afternoon I get a phone call from the same phone number (613) 366 - 2275) and it was the same person but said his name was Officer John Parker and a warrant had been issued for my arrest.
"So I called Bell Canada who said they are aware of this situation and then I called West Nipissing police. I guess this is some sort of scam trying to get personal information like credit cards and stuff like that."
Edna is so concerned that she wants to warn others, and so her next call was to BayToday.
North Bay OPP confirms it has received numerous complaints regarding a scam by criminals posing to be representatives from Canada Revenue Agency.
"In the CRA scam, the criminals extort money from their victims by telephone, mail, text message or email through a fraudulent communication that claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency. The communication requests personal information such as a social insurance number, credit card number, bank account number, or passport number.
"Fraudsters are either phishing for your identification or asking that outstanding taxes be paid through a money service business or with pre-paid debit/credit cards. They may insist that your personal information is needed to provide the taxpayer a refund or a benefit payment."
Some of the fraudulent communication also involves threatening or coercive language to scare you into paying the fictitious debt to the CRA. As well, some callers urge taxpayers to visit a fake CRA website where the taxpayer is then asked to verify their identity by entering personal information.
"These are scams and taxpayers should never respond to these fraudulent communications nor click on any of the links provided," say the OPP.
If you believe that someone is posing as a Canada Revenue Agency official, hang up and contact your local police service. You can also file a complaint through the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or online at https://www.tipsubmit.com/
LEARN MORE
OPP YouTube Emergency Scam video (English)
OPP YouTube Emergency Scam video (French)
The Little Black Book of Scams
