Beware of tax-claim scams. As this is tax filing season, you might just get a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from the tax office, giving you a “case number” and some other “details” of the government’s supposed case against you.
I just got a Call
The particular call I received claimed to be originating from the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA), Canada’s tax agency. The caller was specifying a “deficit” I supposedly owed to the agency and other details. Of course, I knew right away that the call was from a fraud artist but decided to play along.
Before his spiel, he made sure to advise me of the need not to interrupt him as the call “was being monitored” and so on. After he “stated the case” and asked if I had any questions, I did so. For example, I enquired as to where the caller was physically located. He answered with giving me the street address of the CRA in Ottawa and, when I asked for his phone number to call him back, he provided a 10-digit number, i.e. 817-932-9921.
A simple check confirmed my view that this was another scam. I did not take me long to find out where that call originated from and “surprise, surprise,” it was not from Canada at all but from the Fort Worth, TX, area. When I did call back that number, the fellow who called me was indeed answering right away. Then, when I asked why his phone number was from Fort Worth, rather than Ottawa as he claimed to be calling from, he quickly hung up.
That brings me to the advice I’d like to give you: all kinds of scams are virulent, particularly at this time of year. They seem to mutate and multiply faster than you can imagine. So, what’s your best defense against such phone(y) fraud attempts?
Defense against Fraud
I’ve had other fraudulent phone calls claiming all kinds of things that I either was supposed to owe to outfits I had never heard of or be in violation of. If you have a phone at all, even with an unlisted number, you probably have received some of such calls. Don’t fall for them!
If you think the call is a fraudulent scheme, just ask a few “innocent questions,” like the name of the caller, the number he/she is calling from, the actual physical location the caller is at and other simple questions. If you get what appear to be straight-forward answers, don’t be fooled either.
As former U.S. President Ronald Reagan used to say “Trust but Verify,” a maxim well worth remembering!
