LETHBRIDGE – A Lethbridge senior is warning others about an unusually aggressive phone scammer posing as the federal tax agency.
Sharon Goldie said she received a disturbing call last Thursday from an unidentified caller, who claimed to represent the Canada Revenue Agency.
Goldie, 72, said the man told her that she was facing charges for defrauding the government and that she owed over $2,000.
If she did not pay up, he said, police officers would come to her home to arrest her, detain her for 72 hours and then throw her in jail for up to six years.
“It was so forceful,” said a terrified Goldie. “He would determine with this telephone call what was going to be my fate.”
Goldie said she challenged the man on the phone, telling him to ‘bring it on’ and that ‘a lot of people will hear about this.’
The caller then quickly ended the call, she said.
WATCH BELOW: RAW PHONE SCAM AUDIO
Her daughter, Eva Goldie, recorded part of the phone conversation. She said she knew right from the start that something was off.
“I hit record and heard some of the things he was saying,” she said. “‘We are going to freeze your bank accounts and you are going to jail’ – I was like, this is not right, something is wrong here.”
The scammer recently contacted Goldie again, demanding that she send $2,000 to a person by the name of “Ociel Ray” in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Global News tried to reach the caller, but the person answering hung-up twice.
Goldie said she feels violated, and hopes sharing her story will discourage others from being scared into falling for a scam.
“Hopefully we’ll put them out of business, or they’ll go on to something else,” she said.
In June, the CRA warned Canadians about an increase in telephone scams where the caller claims to be from the tax agency – including some involving threatening and forceful language. “These calls are fraudulent and could result in identity and financial theft,” the CRA said in a media release.
You can find tips to help identify a possible phone scammer here.
The CRA asks the public to report scams such as this to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, either online or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.