CRA Criminal Investigation Division SCAM

[kn]

I came home tonight after work to the wonderful voice mail that a warrant has been issued against me by the CRA's Criminal Investigation Division and will be forwarded to the RCMP. I was supposed to contact "Officer Jim Arthur" as soon as possible at the number 613-704-1303.

I had just received a refund and was still able to log into my CRA account. All my bank accounts were fine as well. The number was displayed on my phone as "Toll Free Serv" and was 1-800-267-6999 which is indeed a CRA number.

I Googled and found out this is not new. He demands money in amounts that would not get the attention of the Criminal Investigation Division which deals with major tax evasion and fraud.
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-613...26269405517693
https://www.callercenter.com/613-704-1303.html

I'll be contacting the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre tomorrow. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up who might encounter something like this. Needless to say, it got my heart racing for a while.

[HarryH93]

Russell
27 Apr 2015
Just happened my wife,...she was freaked out...once I started asking questions bout his CRA id number and asked if he was bilingual he started swearing at me...THIS IS ISIS...be carefull or some kind or terror run organization

ISIS? Some people, man.

[Northendzone]

hopefully nobody falls for this - who calls to tell you a warrant has been issued for your arrest.

i wonder how they extract moeny from you - do officer jim ask for a cheque to forget everything? or do they just ask to confirm some info and then they go to town getting a load of credit cards in your name

[PsYcNeT]

Probably the same scam group that was targeting elderly immigrants posing as the CRA last year.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1223933/ca...monton-police/

[Fire]

I wish these people would be thrown in jail for life.

[Locke]

If you have an accountant thats authorized to represent you, you should always contact them first if an unknown tax liability appears before you just pay it.

If someone says you owe additional tax the first question should be: why?

As soon as you ask 'why' they hang up the phone.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Well, really, the best thing to do wasn what that guy up there did, ask for a CRA identification number. An agent will always provide that number as the absolute first thing they say upon picking up the phone.

This seems like a terrible scam in terms of practicality - not likely to cause people to willingly give up their money (most peoples' reaction to being sent a tax bill is to bristle and wonder why they owe anything); really easy to figure out that they're lying; and clearly criminal to a greater degree than most frauds in that these people are impersonating a government agency who will have a vested interested in putting the screws to them. There's additional motivation for law enforcement to deal with something like this.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Well, really, the best thing to do wasn what that guy up there did, ask for a CRA identification number. An agent will always provide that number as the absolute first thing they say upon picking up the phone.

This seems like a terrible scam in terms of practicality - not likely to cause people to willingly give up their money (most peoples' reaction to being sent a tax bill is to bristle and wonder why they owe anything); really easy to figure out that they're lying; and clearly criminal to a greater degree than most frauds in that these people are impersonating a government agency who will have a vested interested in putting the screws to them. There's additional motivation for law enforcement to deal with something like this.

Its interesting, but there are definitely people who have a lot of anxiety regarding taxes and official documents. They'd rather pay for it to go away than deal with it rationally.

Its not uncommon.

[Resolute 14]

Exactly. It only happens because it works.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Exactly. It only happens because it works.

The scam last year against elderly immigrants was frighteningly effective. I had to really educate some of my clients on contacting me before they pay CRA anything.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Locke

The scam last year against elderly immigrants was frighteningly effective. I had to really educate some of my clients on contacting me before they pay CRA anything.

Is it uncommon that people won't authorize you to talk to CRA on their behalf?

My accountant had me sign a form so that contact between CRA and myself goes through him first.

[Righteous1]

it's tax season, if i was a fraudster id be all over it! it's normal around this time, use common sense and you'll be aaaa o kay

[GoinAllTheWay]

Massive police operation breaks up the CRA scammers in India. Finally. Probably won't lost long but nice to hear it's had a drastic reduction in bogus calls.

http://www.news1130.com/2016/10/22/t...ntre-bust-cra/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle32470996/

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Massive police operation breaks up the CRA scammers in India. Finally. Probably won't lost long but nice to hear it's had a drastic reduction in bogus calls.

http://www.news1130.com/2016/10/22/t...ntre-bust-cra/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle32470996/

Finally! Holy ####. This scam has been going on for years!

[GoinAllTheWay]

The most frustrating part is, I read an article recently (I'll see if I can find it) where it says the technology exists to block calls like this and can be implemented by the big telecom companies but they haven't done it.

Here we go:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/telc...spam-1.3334194

[MissTeeks]

I was wondering why I stopped getting these messages every three days. Yay!

[GoinAllTheWay]

I wonder if this was a result of pressure from Canadian and American authorities on India to do something about this.

[The Yen Man]

I love how these scams always start with something like "this is officer John Smith" in the thickest Indian accent possible.

[darockwilder]

My wife got an email version of this once and the funniest thing about was that it ended with "Have a blessed day". Typical government correspondence.

[tete]

Originally Posted by darockwilder

My wife got an email version of this once and the funniest thing about was that it ended with "Have a blessed day". Typical government correspondence.

I received a threatening voice mail message from "CRA" that ended with that as well a few months ago. Made me laugh.