A Guelph resident is out $4,300 in cash after responding to a CRA scam.
The person received a voicemail from someone claiming to be from the CRA. In the voice message that resident was advised to call back or they would be in trouble.
The victim called back and was told to purchase iTunes gift cards, scratch them off and read the pin on the back of each card to the person on the phone.
Guelph Police are warning that this is a scam.
They say that a caller will advise a potential victim that there is an outstanding debt owed to the Canada Revenue Agency. The caller then threatens the resident with things like police will be coming to arrest them, they will be held in custody, they will lose custody of their children, they will be deported etc.
The victim is then ordered to wire money, E-Transfer funds, use pre-paid Visas or purchase iTunes cards.
Victims are often kept on the phone during the calls to provide the caller with codes or numbers from the cards immediately.
According to police, the Canada Revenue Agency will not ask for overdue tax payments to be made by any of the above methods, including asking for access PIN or codes from iTunes cards purchased.
People should not respond to these types of calls or communications.
If in doubt, people can contact the CRA at 1-800-959-8281, to verify the authenticity of a call from the CRA.
