CALGARY – Police are warning of a scam which appears to target the city’s South Asian community.
In the past two weeks, police say four people have received a phone call from someone claiming to be with the Canada Revenue Agency.
In each case, the scammer demands the victim wire money and directs them to a convenience store.
If the victims don’t send money, the caller says they will be arrested and could face jail time.
Police say at least one person wired $2,000 – but when they were told to send more money, they refused and alerted police.
Police say a second victim tried to wire money, but it exceeded the amount allowed by the store.
The scammer then tried to convince the second victim to pay with a pre-paid Visa card – at which point they refused, and alerted police.
Police say the scammer appears to have a South Asian accent and all the people who have reported the scam to police are of a similar ethnic background.
Police believe the caller has the name and address of the intended victims, and say the phone calls appear to be targeted.
If you have concerns about your taxes you can contact the Canada Revenue Agency directly.
The CRA recently issued a similar warning about the scam, saying they do not do the following:
• The CRA never requests, by email, personal information of any kind from a taxpayer.
• The CRA will never request information from a taxpayer pertaining to a passport, health card, or driver’s license.
• The CRA will not divulge taxpayer information to another person unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer.
• The CRA will not leave any personal information on an answering machine.
Anyone who has received a call like this is asked to call Police.
Comments