A Cowichan senior is encouraging people to be wary of calls they receive that claim to be from the Canada Revenue Agency.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she had a message on her voicemail recently that purported to be from an employee of the CRA asking her to call back.
The senior said she was immediately suspicious because the first digits in the phone number were 1-905, while the CRA typically uses numbers that begin with 1-800 or 1-888.
“I checked and this number is not listed in any telephone book,” she said.
“The message from the lady asked me to return the call and then she gave her office hours. The call display said it was from the CRA but I don’t trust that. I fear that this is an income tax scam. I believe I could have been the next victim and I want to warn others in the community about it.”
The Cowichan Valley Citizen called the number and was sent to voicemail where a woman claims to be an employee of the CRA, lists her office hours and invited the caller to leave a message.
However, the CRA's website said it’s highly unlikely that the agency would contact someone using a 1-900 number as these numbers are typically premium-rate numbers for pay-per-call services and not government agencies.
“Always be cautious when you receive a phone call from an unknown caller,” the website said.
“When the CRA calls you, the employee will identify themselves by giving you their name and a phone number for you to call back. Never call the phone number that was given to you unless you have verified it yourself with the CRA.”
If you answer the phone and are directly talking to the person who claims to be a CRA employee and you are suspicious, the CRA website said you should first request the name, phone number and office location of the caller, then end the call and check that the information the caller provided you is legitimate by contacting the CRA.
Individuals can call the CRA at 1-800-959-8281, and businesses can call 1-800-959-5525.
If the CRA confirms the information is legitimate, you can then call the CRA employee back to discuss the reason for their call.
