An increase in reports of fake Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) emails to University of Waterloo email accounts has prompted Waterloo Regional Police to issue a warning to students in the area.
Police say there have been more than 20 reports of people with University of Waterloo email accounts receiving the phoney messages, with eight reported over the past two days.
According to police, the fraudulent emails say the recipient is eligible for a tax refund and is required to provide personal information to receive the cash.
Police provided the following example of a fake email that students have reported receiving:
Dear Student, <email@uwaterloo.ca>
Canada Revenue Agency has sent you an INTERAC e-Transfer (previously INTERAC Email Money Transfer).
Amount: $550.44 (CAD)
Sender’s Message: Tax refund of $550.44 CAD from overpaid tax from year ending 2019
Expiry Date: 15 January, 2020
Action Required: To deposit your money, Start Claim
Police are reminding residents the CRA does not use Interac e-transfers to provide funds.
They are asking anyone who receives a scam email to alert police and report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Residents are also asked to warn family and friends of this latest scam.