December 17th, 2019 Ottawa, Ontario MP Sonia Sidhu

Sonia Sidhu, MP for Brampton South, is urging residents of her community to be aware of CRA tax scams. “There has been an alarming increase of malicious fraudsters misleading tax payers by claiming to be Canada Revenue Agency officers by phone or by e-mail” said MP Sidhu.

Residents of Brampton South should be aware, and vigilant, against the increasing amount of attempted tax scams occurring across our country. Fraudsters are claiming to be CRA officials and threatening Canadians by suggesting that they have made a tax mistake or insisting that personal information is needed so the taxpayer can receive a “refund” or a “benefit payment” from the CRA. As well, other communications may urge taxpayers to visit a fake CRA website where the taxpayer is then asked to verify their identity by entering personal information.

MP Sonia Sidhu wants to make it clear to her community, these types of communications are scams. And that by giving in to these scammers, you risk identity theft, personal loss, and financial loss.

There are many ways to detect whether you are speaking to a legitimate CRA agent, or a scammer.

By phone or e-mail, the Canada Revenue Agency will never:

Ask you for personal information in a threatening manner,
Ask for information about your passport, health card, or driver’s license,
Ask for immediate payment by Interact e-transfer, bitcoin, or pre-paid gift cards,
Threaten you with immediate legal action such as a prison sentence.