P.E.I. RCMP warn public about fraudulent tax calls
'Callers can be very convincing and very threatening'
The Kings District RCMP are warning the public about phone calls from people claiming to work for the Canada Revenue Agency.
The callers claim money is owed to CRA and ask that money be transferred to an online account to clear the balance.
"We continue to receive reports of this attempt at fraud and have been advised that the callers can be both very convincing and very threatening. To our knowledge, none of those who had reported receiving these calls have lost any money," said Staff Sgt. Kevin Baillie in a release.
Baillie says if anyone receives a phone call or email of this kind, they should immediately contact the CRA to confirm if money is actually owed before any transaction are made.
On its website CRA says it does not do the following:
- The CRA will not request personal information of any kind from a taxpayer by email
- The CRA will not divulge taxpayer information to another person unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer
- The CRA will not leave any personal information on an answering machine