Now that tax time is over some of you may be thinking that you may be hearing from the CRA. At least you should be getting your assessment back. No doubt when the phone rings and the caller says they are from the CRA you are somewhat shocked. However, never having had much dealings outside of your tax returns, it may not seem that unusual. At least not until you start to hear what the individual on the other end of the phone starts to say.
At first you may hear them say that they are an auditor from the CRA and that they have issued a warrant out against you. WOW! That’s scary isn’t it. At first your heart drops to the ground, then you recover quickly, and you can tell by the broken English and the noise in the background that the speaker just might not be who they say they are.
So, you begin to challenge the caller by asking a few questions. Now as you know the CRA agents are supposed to supply you with an ID number, and when you ask the caller for his (or hers) they will no doubt give you a number. You of course are not going to have any way to immediately check this out.
The more questions you ask the more aggressive and assertive the caller will become. Be AWARE, this is a scam call!
If the caller is not challenged they will go on to tell you that you owe the CRA “x” amount of dollars and you have to pay immediately today or they are going to take action against you.
One of the latest numbers they are calling from is 613-366-3294. Of course when you call back it is no longer in service. Oh by the way when I asked the man with the heavy Indian accent his name, he told me it was Gabriel Smith (hmm hmm).
There is little doubt that the calls are being made from a scam call centre and most likely outside of the country. Their location is what is creating a safety net for them, and why these callers are remaining aggressive when being challenged.
The unfortunate part is although most likely the majority of their calls are going to be useless, they will come across some people who they are able to frighten and maybe convince them to send money. This is dangerous and frustrating.
The best thing you can do is report this type of call to your local Police and hopefully when they get enough complaints they will be able to do something to catch them.