Some residents of 108 Mile Ranch recently reported a new scam that came to them by e-mail on Dec. 3.
"This e-mail has been sent to you by Revenue-Canada Tax & Customs to inform you that we must pay you back $512.08," it states. "Please complete all the information to complete your refund."
It includes a website link that should not be activated or followed.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) confirms taxpayers may occasionally receive fraudulent communications by telephone, mail, or e-mail, falsely claiming to be from the CRA.
In all these cases, the communication scam requests personal information, such as a social insurance, credit card, bank account and passport numbers. It claims this personal information is needed so the taxpayer can receive a refund or benefit payment.
Another common scam refers the targeted people to a website resembling the CRA's, which asks them to verify their identity by entering personal information.
Taxpayers should not respond to these fraudulent communications.
The agency provides general guidelines to better equip people to identify false communications, as follows:
• The CRA will not request personal information of any kind from a taxpayer by e-mail.
• 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.
When in doubt, ask yourself the following:
• Am I expecting additional money from the CRA?
• Does this sound too good to be true?
• Is the requester asking for information I would not include with my tax return?
• Is the requester asking for information I know the CRA already has on file for me?
• How did the requester get my e-mail address?
• Am I confident I know who is asking for the information?
Then, if they have any concerns, they should check the CRA's webpage at www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ntcs/bwr-eng.html for notifications of fraudulent communications, which are posted on an ongoing basis as the agency becomes aware of them.
To check for potential fraud information or to report this or any other scams, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/english/home.html.