Canadian Revenue Agency and The Coast Group Chartered Accountants are warning Canadians to protect themselves from fraudulent communications and the potential misuse of their personal information.
CRA and The Coast Group take your security very seriously and remind you to protect yourself this tax season and be aware of fraudulent communications.
Occasionally, taxpayers may receive, either by telephone, mail, or email, a communication that claims to be from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) but is NOT. In all these cases, the communication requests personal information, such as a social insurance, credit card, bank account, and passport numbers, from the taxpayer. These fraudulent communications are also referred to as scams or phishing.
Invariably, the communication argues that this personal information is needed so that the taxpayer can receive a refund or benefit payment. Another common scam refers the person to a Web site resembling the CRA's Web site where the person is asked to verify their identity by entering personal information. Taxpayers should not respond to such fraudulent communications.
To better equip taxpayers to identify those communications that do not come from the CRA, the following general guidelines are provided.
The CRA does not do the following:
- The CRA will not request personal information of any kind from a taxpayer by email.
- 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.
- 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 email address?
- Am I confident I know who is asking for the information?
Samples of Fraudulent Emails
Virus Sample
Dear Member
This is to inform you that our system has generated your new secured Electronic PIN to e-file your 2014 tax return.
Please kindly download the microsoft file to securely review it.
Thanks
Canada Revenue Agency
875 Heron Road
Ottawa ON K1A 1B1
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/
Sample 1
From: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 5:23 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: INTERAC e-Transfer from Canada Revenue Agency System
Dear customer,
Canada Revenue Agency has sent you an INTERAC e-Transfer
(previously INTERAC Email Money Transfer).
Amount: $120.00 (CAD)
Sender's Message: A message was not provided
Expiry Date: 25 June 2012
Action Required:
To deposit your money, click here:
(web link)
Trouble with the link? Type it into your web browser address bar.
Need help?
(web link)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is an INTERAC e-Transfer? (previously INTERAC Email Money Transfer). If you use online or mobile banking at a participating financial institution, you can send and receive money quickly and easily.
Email or text messages carry the notice while the financial institutions securely transfer the money using existing payment networks. If your financial institution does not yet offer INTERAC e-Transfer, you can still deposit transfers to any bank account in Canada.
Click (web link) for details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pour voir les détails du virement en français, cliquez sur le lien ci-dessous :
(web link)
Sample 2
Dear business affiliate,
A criminal complaint has been filled against you and the company you are affiliated with.
Your company is being accused of trying to commit tax evasion schemes.
The full text of the complaint file ( PDF format ) can be downloaded from the CRA website, by visiting the following link :
(web link)
For more information , please check our business information section , 2nd paragraph , "Authorizing a representative" :
(web link)
An official response from you is required, in order to take further action.
Please review the charges brought forward in the complaint file, and contact us as soon as possible by :
Telephone: 800-267-6999
Email: [email protected]
Thank you,
Canada Revenue Service
Sample 3
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 12:11 PM
Subject: FW: CRA complaint
Importance: High
Dear business affiliate,
A complaint has been filled against you by Mrs. Ana Evans, claiming that you and your company are involved in tax evasion schemes.
The original complaint has been attached to this message, in Microsoft Word format.
Before starting an investigation , we are required to check the balance reports of your company and compare them with the data you filled in the tax forms.
Please forward the required reports to : [email protected]
Thank you,
Benjamin Kainth
Fraud Department
Canada Revenue AgencyEmail scanned for virus: mail.mapleleaf.ca
Sample 4
From: Canada Revenue Agency [[email protected]]
Sent: May 25, 2011 2:20 PM
Subject: FW: Tax Evasion
Importance: High
Dear tax payer,
A federal complaint has been filled against you and the company you are affiliated with, by using our Informant Leads Program .
The complaint contains evidence that you are directly involved in tax evasion schemes.
The mandate of the Informant Leads Program is to co-ordinate all leads that the CRA receives from informants, to determine if there is an element of non-compliance with tax legislation, and to ensure that appropriate enforcement action is taken.
Before a criminal investigation is started, you will be required to give us an official statement.
In order to do so, please visit us at the nearest CRA Informant Leads Centre in your region.
For a complete list of the our offices and for more information regarding this matter, please visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nvstgtns/lds-eng.html
The complaint can be downloaded, in Microsoft Word format, from:
(web link)
Thank you,
Canada Revenue Agency
Tax Evasion Department
Sample 5
De : Canada Revenue Agency [mailto:[email protected]]
Envoyé : mercredi 11 mai 2011 11:20
À : undisclosed-recipients:
Objet : Possible tax evasion fraud!
Dear tax payer,
While checking your company's tax reports , several discrepancies were found by comparing the real and the declared profit.
An investigation has been started to determine if this is a mistake or a tax evasion attempt.
A new tax form , revised , with additional fields has been attached to this message.
The revised tax form can also be downloaded from the CRA mirror : (web link)
Please complete the revised tax form , with accurate information and forward the completed form to : [email protected]
Thank you
Sample 6
>>> Canada Revenue Agency <[email protected]> 2010-11-08 7:22 AM >>>
Dear Customer,
This is an automated email that confirms the registration of your complaint case number: #68DA49 filed by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on November 08/2010 concerning Online Identity Theft.
While Canada Revenue Agency does not resolve individual consumer problems, your complaint helps us investigate fraud, and can lead to law enforcement action.
Complete the individual tax return form on the link below: (web link)
We use secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to protect the transmission of the information you submit to us when you use our secure online forms. The information you provided to us is stored securely.
The form you used to register this complaint is designed to improve public access to the Canada Revenue Agency of Consumer Protection Consumer Response Center, and is voluntary. Through this form, consumers may electronically register a complaint with the Canada Revenue Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, as amended, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Our staff will keep you updated regarding the status of our investigation. To check the status of your complaint please access login page. The information in this news release was obtained from the court records.
Further information on convictions can also be found in the Media room on the CRA website at (web link)
Sample 7
This graphic displays a sample of an Inbox with a fraudulent email received from 'CIRA <[email protected]>' with the subject line '**WARNING**Canadian Tax Revenue AgencySample 8
From: Canada Revenue Agency [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: November 9, 2007 11:07 AM
To: John Smith
Subject: Tax Avoidance Scheme Complaint , John Smith (Case id: #65FA72!)
Dear Mr. John Smith ,
This is an automated email that confirms the registration of your complaint case number : #65FA72 filed by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on November 08/2007 concerning Online Identity Theft.
While Canada Revenue Agency does not resolve individual consumer problems, your complaint helps us investigate fraud, and can lead to law enforcement action.
You can download a copy of your complaint from (web link). Please print and keep this copy for your personal records.
We use secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to protect the transmission of the information you submit to us when you use our secure online forms. The information you provided to us is stored securely.
The form you used to register this complaint is designed to improve public access to the Canada Revenue Agency of Consumer Protection Consumer Response Center, and is voluntary. Through this form, consumers may electronically register a complaint with the Canada Revenue Agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, as amended, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
Our staff will keep you updated regarding the status of our investigation. To check the status of your complaint please access (web link). The information in this news release was obtained from the court records.
Further information on convictions can also be found in the Media room on the CRA website at (web link).
Sample 9
From: Canada Revenue Agency [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 5:43 AM
To:
Subject: NOTICE OF TAX RETURN FOR YEAR 2013
Date: 26 March 2014
Our Ref.: C/20355/14
Your Ref. 10B/235/14
NOTICE OF TAX RETURN FOR YEAR 2013
Dear Sir/Madam, I am sending this email to announce: After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax return of: $ 639.00 To receive your return, you need to create a Government Gateway account. Click here to Register
Our head office address can be found on our web site at Canada Revenue Agency: www.cra-arc.gc.ca .......The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential and as applicable, copyright in these is .......reserved to Canada Revenue Agency. Unless expressly authorised by us, any further dissemination or .......distribution of this email or its attachments is prohibited.If you have responded to a fraudulent communication and have become a victim of fraud, please contact the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by email at [email protected] or call 1-888-495-8501.