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Philippine Showbiz Today
Community News
Vancouver, BC - As we head
into the heat of tax season, the
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
serving Mainland BC is warning
the public to brace for an increa-
se in tax-related scams. Be on the
lookout for emails, text messa-
ges, telephone calls and letters in
the mail from scammers preten-
ding to be from Canada Revenue
Agency (CRA) or other govern-
ment offices.
These scams typically start
with a phone call saying you owe
back taxes and the caller tries
to pressure you into making pa-
yment immediately. Failure to
comply often results in the sca-
mmer threatening you with arrest
and fines. Scammers may also
claim they are issuing tax refunds
and need you to provide personal
information to process your tax
returns. However, if they get this
information, they can use it for
identity theft.
Sometimes scammers may
follow up on their calls by sen-
ding an email or letter in the mail
which fraudulen-
tly uses the CRA
logo. This may
also be their first
point of contact
with you. BBB
is already hea-
ring stories from
the public about
being contacted
by
scammers.
In one instance,
documents with
CRA’s logo were
sent via mail to
an
individual,
requesting that
they provide rele-
vant tax informa-
tion needed to process a refund.
The package included a partially
completed form with the correct
name and address for the indivi-
dual and required that they pro-
vide their Social Insurance Num-
ber (SIN) and date of birth. It also
came with a self-addressed and
stamped envelope to return the
completed documents.
Phishing scams using CRA
or other reputable agencies are
not uncommon and continue to
be a serious problem. In fact, in-
come tax scams were number six
on BBB’s list of Top 10 Scams
in 2017. Based on the prevalen-
ce of the scam and the number
of reports received, we anticipa-
te it may still hold a spot on the
Top 10 list for 2018. “Scammers
attack areas of vulnerability, and
anything involving money tends
to fall in that category”, says Kar-
la Davis, Manager for Community
and Public Relations at BBB. Da-
vis explained that, “taxes and mo-
ney go hand in hand. Access to
information that allows someone
to assume your identity and con-
trol your tax account offers lucra-
tive opportunities for scammers.
February 8 - 21, 2019
Beware Of Tax Spams
Your name, address and SIN are
crucial details that cybercriminals
can monetize; that is, they can
use it to access loans, apply for
employment or even file tax retur-
ns in your name and collect your
refund”. In most cases, people do
not realize they are victims of iden-
tity theft until they receive a written
notice from CRA informing them
that more than one tax return was
filed, or that they were paid by an
employer they never worked for.
The best way to avoid tax identity
theft is to file your taxes as early as
possible, before a scammer has
the chance to use your informa-
tion to file a fraudulent return.
There are three groups of
people who may be primary tar-
gets for scammers: new immi-
grants, seniors and millennials.
New immigrants are most vulne-
rable because they are least infor-
med about how the Canadian go-
vernment contacts and interacts
with citizens. Seniors are also
primary targets because they are
least aware of new technological
developments,
and they may not
be as informed
about accepted
communication
and
payment
methods. Addi-
tionally, being in
retirement may
contribute to their
lack of social
awareness
and
may also trigger
a greater sense of
financial insecu-
rity, which makes
them more sus-
ceptible to threa-
tening phone calls
and other aggressive advances for
money from scammers.
Although millennials are most
informed, they also get caught in
scams because of overconfiden-
ce, which makes them less likely
to do their due diligence and tho-
roughly read through documents.
For instance, while they may be
able to quickly identify that text
messages and phone calls from
CRA are a scam, they may miss
the signs of a scam in a lengthy
email or a letter in the mail becau-
se they simply accept the docu-
ment at face value and fail to read
and examine it thoroughly. Davis
explained that ‘because we live in
a fast-paced world, the idea of ins-
tant transactions, receiving emails
with links and just a few clicks
to get things done fit right into a
millenial’s comfort zone, making
them vulnerable to the scam”.
BBB is sharing the following
tax scam prevention tips:
Carefully review all financial
documents you receive in the
mail, especially if they are asking
you to share confidential informa-
tion.
Look out for unusual forms of
payment like wire transfer, Interac
e-transfer, bitcoin, prepaid debit
card, gift cards from retailers like
Amazon and iTunes or other non-
traditional payment methods.
These methods are largely untra-
ceable and cannot be reversed.
An email, text message or
communication via instant mes-
saging platforms like Whatsapp
and Facebook Messenger reques-
ting that you provide private infor-
mation are a scam. If there is an
issue with your tax file, CRA will
first contact you by mail.
CRA will only send payments
to you by direct deposit or che-
que.
If you are being pressured to
act quickly, or receive aggression
and threats to send a police officer
to arrest you for failure to comply,
it is a scam. The CRA will always
give you the chance to ask ques-
tions or appeal what you owe.
Demands for money or credit
card numbers over the phone or
by email is likely a scam.
Requests for information not
required for tax purposes, like
your passport, health card, or
driver’s license are a scam.
Knowledge is the best way to
be empowered and stay ahead of
scammers. Educate your family
members, friends and colleagues
about how to identify and avoid
scams. If you are a victim of a
scam, we encourage you to re-
port it. Visit bbb.org to use Scam
Tracker or call 604-682-2711.
You may also contact the Cana-
dian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-
495-8501. If you believe your SIN
has been stolen, contact Service
Canada at 1-800-206-7218.●
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