It's that time of year again! Scam artists send messages from "Revenue Canada" requesting your personal information.
The CRA will not do the following [
taken from the CRA website]:
- send email with a link and ask you to divulge personal or financial information;
Exception:
If you call the CRA to request a form or a link for specific information, a CRA agent will forward the information you
are requesting to your email during the telephone call. This is the only circumstance in which the CRA will send an
email containing links.
- ask for personal information of any kind by email or text message.
- request payments by prepaid credit cards.
- give taxpayer information to another person, unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer.
- leave personal information on an answering machine.
When in doubt, ask yourself the following:
- Did I sign up to receive online mail through My Account, My Business Account, or Represent a Client?
- Did I provide my email address on my income tax and benefit return to receive mail online?
- Am I expecting more money from the CRA?
- Does this sound too good to be true?
- Is the requester asking for information I would not provide in my tax return?
- Is the requester asking for information I know the CRA already has on file for me?
The purpose of these messages is: to deliver Malware to your computer by having you click on a link or attachment;
to extort money from you by having you provide your banking information; or to obtain your personal information for identity theft.
If you receive a call or email saying you owe money to the CRA, call the CRA or check your "My Account" to be sure. Contact
information can be found at
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/cntct/menu-eng.html.
Always check the validity of a link in any message that you receive, even from someone you trust. The quickest way to check
is to hover your mouse over the link. You will either see a popup directly over your mouse pointer (if you are using a
program such as Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, Live Mail, etc.) or the link will appear in the bottom left-hand corner of
your internet browser window. If the link looks suspicious, it probably is.
When in doubt,
contact us. We are here to help!