Just in time for tax season, Guelph police say they have received complaints from residents who are getting calls from someone who claims to work for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and who says the residents owe on their taxes.
Police said the telephone scams involve threats and aggressive language to scare people into paying fictitious debts.
“So they threaten with police. They also warn, ‘You’re going to lose your house, you’re going to lose your car, you’re going to lose everything because we’re coming to get it,'” said Const. Chris Probst.
“It’s that type of language that can be intimidating enough for people to go out and make the payment.”
Probst said the caller will either request payment by credit card or convince the victims to purchase prepaid credit cards or iTunes gift cards. He cautioned that the CRA never does this.
“If you ever have anybody call you and request to make a payment for anything via iTunes card, just hang up,” he said.
Police have a difficult time investigating these cases because the culprit likely doesn’t live in Guelph and they sometimes have the ability to change the number that comes up on call display to make it seem legitimate.
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