Police are warning that fraudsters, posing as Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) representatives at the height of tax season, are upping their efforts to dupe unwitting Canadians into transferring funds.
In one recent case, a 68-year-old Ontario man was told that he owed a substantial sum in back taxes and convinced him to transfer $19,000 using a Bitcoin ATM.
“That money is basically gone,” Durham Regional Police Const. George Tudos told CTV Toronto on Thursday. “We have seen an increase (in fraud cases) lately, now that it is tax season.”
CTV Toronto obtained a recording of a recent phone scam threatening individuals with jail time if they do not respond.
“There is a case, a lawsuit, that is getting filed under your name,” the caller states. “The moment you receive this message, I need you to get back to me. If I don’t hear a call from you, we will have to issue an arrest warrant under your name and get you arrested.”
As Bitcoin ATMs become more commonplace, criminals are increasingly turning to the cryptocurrency machines as a means to conduct transactions that are difficult to trace. Scammers have also demanded pre-paid credit cards and gift cards as means of payment.
The CRA does not ask for personal information via email or text, request payments by prepaid credit cards, give taxpayers information to another person unless authorization is provided by the taxpayer, or leave personal information on an answering machine.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Pat Foran
