Every year during tax season thousands of Canadians are targeted by phishing e-mails attempting to represent the Canada Revenue Agency.
Phishing is the creation of email messages and Web pages that are replicas of existing, legitimate sites and businesses. These Web sites and e-mails are used to trick users into submitting personal, financial, or password data. These e-mails often ask for information such as credit card numbers, bank account information, social insurance numbers, and passwords that will be used to commit fraud.
The message replicating the CRA is generic in nature and states you are entitled to a tax return once you provide your personal information. What the unsuspecting victim doesn’t realize is that they’ve now subjected themselves to identity theft and fraud.
The following is a recent example of a phishing e-mail targeting Canadians:
Online Refund Form
After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 386.00.
Please submit the tax refund and allow us 3-9 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access the form for your tax refund, please click here »
Copyright Canada Revenue Agency. All rights reserved. www.cra-arc.gc.ca.
The CRA does not collect information in this manner and e-mails requesting your personal information should be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre.ca or by calling 1-888-495-8501.
