As soon as we hear the title CRA we automatically assume it is the Canada Revenue Agency and it demands a certain amount of respect. We don’t really think that anyone would be brazen enough to present themselves as this government organization when they are not, yet it does happen.
A good example of this is in a news story that was recently released.
“Uxbridge woman thwarts fraudulent CRA collection call…
… UXBRIDGE — Harmina Yake knew she was in good standing when it came to filing her income taxes. So when she received a call from a person claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency telling her she owed a substantial amount of money, it raised a red flag.“I didn’t know this was going on,” she said. “I didn’t really know anything but I thought this doesn’t sound right.”Last week Mrs. Yake, an Uxbridge resident, received a series of phone calls from two people claiming to be from the CRA. The first call came in from a woman claiming Mrs. Yake owed money that needed to be paid immediately. The second call came from the same woman and this time Mrs. Yake was threatened with possible jail time if she didn’t pay a supposed debt to the CRA.“She said to me you owe money to the CRA, you owe a lot of money and you’ve been very fraudulent with this. She said we’re going to be coming to get you and said something about jail time or something,” Mrs. Yake said.After requesting to speak to a supervisor and being put on hold, a suspicious Mrs. Yake had enough and hung up the phone.Things didn’t end there, however….” Continue reading
Summary:
This is a classic example of making sure you know how the CRA operates. Make yourself aware of their methods of contact. As you read through this entire article you will see many red flags as to this not being the way the CRA would proceed with collecting money. Fortunately the “would be victim” in this article knew enough to raise some concerns about this issue. First she knew what her position was in regards to her income tax obligations. Another person however gripped with the concerns of the CRA contacting them may have taken it at face value that they owed some money to the tax department and followed through with these demands.
It is most important that you beware of any type of scam, and that you realize the CRA can be vulnerable to this as well. If you are in doubt about your dealings with the CRA be sure to talk to an experienced Toronto accountant about this. These pros know what is legit and what isn’t.
