On May 20th, 2015 the victim received a call from a male posing as Canada Revenue Agency Inspector. The victim was told that she was in arrears for unpaid taxes. She was instructed that payment must be made immediately or a warrant would be issued for her arrest.
A short time later a second male caller contacted the victim and portrayed himself as a Police Officer advising that there was a warrant for her arrest and that he would be arresting her if payment was not made immediately.
The victim was contacted for several hours throughout the day by these fraudsters. They convinced her to make multiple cash deposits and money transfers through specified accounts and money transfer services.
The victim eventually attended Owen Sound Police Services to inquire if there was a warrant for her arrest. It was soon evident that the victim had been scammed. Police were able to interrupt three of the transactions before they were complete, however the victim was still bilked out of a significant amount of cash. Police are still investigating.
People are reminded that this type of tax scam is common, especially this time of year with the recently passed tax deadline.
The Canada Revenue Agency and the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre are both aware of this scam and have posted on their websites numerous recommendations to protect people from this and similar types of fraudulent criminal activity.
If you are contacted by a government or law enforcement agency and are suspicious of the purpose of the call it is recommended to obtain a call-back number, along with the person’s name and position with the agency. The call-back number and person’s credentials should be verified first through the applicable government or law enforcement websites or other means before returning the call, acting on instructions, or providing personal information.