(NORFOLK COUNTY, ON) – The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Norfolk County Detachment is warning residents about fraudulent phone calls that are being received by several concerned residents from Norfolk County, Ontario addresses.
On Thursday, April 23, 2015 at approximately 7:04 p.m., a concerned resident contacted the OPP to report that they had received a phone call from an unknown male.
The male suspect indicated that he was calling from the Canada Revenue Agency. He informed the homeowners that a criminal investigation had been conducted and arrest warrants were being prepared. The male indicated that the OPP were going to attend the homeowners address or work place and arrest them for tax evasion, violation of Federal taxes and tax fraud if they didn’t comply with his requests.
The male then stated that they could take care of this issue by forwarding approximately $2000 dollars immediately or they would contact the Sheriff’s office. The male then threatened that the home owners would be arrested and held in custody for approximately 72 hours. No money or information was provided and police are reminding all residents to be extremely vigilant if you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency inquiring about personal information. These types of calls are designed to create anxiety and complete shock for the unsuspecting resident resulting in personal and financial information being disclosed.
The OPP would like to provide some additional information to better equip residents of Norfolk County to identify those communications that do not come from the CRA. The following general guidelines are provided.
The Canada Revenue Agency 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 or threatening messages on an answering machine.
When in doubt, ask yourself the following:
Am I expecting any calls from the CRA?
Does this sound too good to be true?
IS the caller able to identify themselves with an ID number that you can verify?
Is the requester asking for information I would not include with my tax return?
Is the requester asking for information I know the CRA already has on file for me?
How did the requester get my email address?
Am I confident I know who is asking for the information?
“As problems like identity theft become more prevalent, now more than ever residents of Norfolk County need to ensure that they secure and protect their personal information, this is key to prevention,” comments Constable Ed Sanchuk, Norfolk County OPP.
For more information on fraud, call the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or http://www.antifraudcentre.ca.