In the past few weeks the Steinbach RCMP have started to see an increase in CRA and Social Insurance Warrant frauds by telephone. RCMP are warning to be extra vigilant when receiving, either by telephone, mail, text message or email, a fraudulent communication that claims to be someone from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or the police.
Police say that these individuals will often request personal information such as a social insurance number, credit card number, bank account number, or passport number. They may also insist that personal information is needed to remove a warrant, or avoid arrest by the police and could also involve threatening or coercive language to scare individuals into paying fictitious debt to the CRA.
It is important to know that the CRA and the police will never call to request personal information or demand immediate payment by Interac e-transfer, bitcoin, prepaid credit cards or gift cards from retailers such as iTunes, Amazon.
When receiving these types of communications, RCMP say to never use any telephone numbers or email addresses provided to you. If in doubt do not provide any personal information and hang up immediately.
Find more information about fraud and the CRA at canada.ca.
