In the last two weeks more than 16 residents reported receiving a scam call from someone claiming they were from the Canada Revenue Agency and one person was conned and is now out thousands of dollars.
Const. Ovi Todor said once money is wired off to scammers it is very difficult to get back.
“We’re investigating and working with other agencies but it’s very difficult,” he said. “It’s been reported to headquarters and we continue to work on it.”
Most money wire transfers agencies have policies that clients are responsible for knowing where the money is going so they aren’t held liable.
Those policies are making it difficult to track who was the recipient of the money and where they are located.
Todor said people who receive calls from the CRA scammers will most likely receive similar calls detailing other scams.
“Most of the time they are dialing random numbers. They put 250-499 and then four other numbers in sequence usually. Once they speak to somebody they validate the telephone number and then they sell it,” he said.
The victims will then start receiving calls from people claiming their granddaughter is in jail or someone is in hospital or they have inherited money for a few examples of other scams that are underway at this time.
The Canada Revenue Agency scam sometimes begins that the person is owed a refund or a benefit plan. The caller asks for personal information such as social insurance number, credit card number, bank account or passport number.
Or the call could be about debt owed and threats of police attending their home within an hour if the debt is not paid.
Other communications urge taxpayers to visit a fake CRA website where the taxpayer is then asked to verify their identity by entering personal information.
Anyone who receives a call from Canada Revenue Agency can verify by calling the CRA back or checking their account online.
The CRA never sends emails including links asking people to divulge personal financial information.