Fraudsters impersonate police in latest CRA scam

Scammers impersonate police RCMP are warning people about an old scam with a new twist. CTV Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson explains.

If you receive a call from an RCMP detachment’s non-emergency number, and the person on the other line says they’re a police officer and you’re wanted for unpaid taxes, hang up because it’s the latest Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam.

“They’re becoming more sophisticated. They’re identifying as police officers, they provide a badge number, when a person looks at the call display and sees RCMP and the phone number, they start to question whether this is real,” Const. Shelley Nasheim with the Spruce Grove RCMP explained.

Officials are reminding the public the non-emergency line is not associated with the CRA.

Const. Nasheim said seniors and newcomers are more susceptible to believing scammers,  who are using more aggressive tactics.

“We’ve had death threats uttered; we’ve had threats to bomb their homes, threats to families. If people are receiving those calls, they should definitely call their local police detachment,” she said.

Here are some tips:

Scams can be reported to the Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or to a local police detachment.

With files from Amanda Anderson