March is Fraud Protection month, and the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) is warning of increased scam calls, texts and emails from people pretending to be the CRA.
“The common scams you see right now have been the same ones you see year after year,” David Nunes, a CRA Spokesperson, told My PG Now, “but every year there seems to be new and different ones every year because of technology.”
To combat the ever-changing strategies scammers use, he said the CRA has set up a full list of known scams that are, or have been used.
You can find that here.
If you get a suspicious call, Nunes suggested asking the caller to leave a note on your file with the CRA, then call the general enquiries line.
“That person will be able to verify the agent who called you is actually someone from the CRA,” Nunes said.
If you do fall for a scam, Nunes said the first thing you should do is contact the police and file a report, and report the scam to your credit bureau.