Nelson Police warn public of CRA phone scam
By Nelson Daily Staff
The Nelson Police Department is urging the public to be vigilant with people asking for money over the phone after receiving reports of a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam making the rounds in the region.
NPD Sergeant Paul Bayes said in a media release the caller claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) but is not.
“These telephone scams involve threatening taxpayers or using aggressive and forceful language to scare them into paying fictitious debt to the CRA,” Bayes said.
“Victims receive a phone call from a person claiming to work for the CRA and saying that taxes are owed.”
Bayes said the caller requests immediate payment by credit card or convinces the victims to purchase a prepaid credit card and to call back immediately with the information. The taxpayer is often threatened with court charges, jail or deportation.
Bayes said anyone receiving such a call should immediately hang up and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501
Bayes said NPD would like to remind the public that the CRA does not contact people by telephone and the CRA never arrests anyone for outstanding balances owed.
