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The Canada Revenue Agency reminds Canadians to beware of phishing schemes

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) warns all Canadians to beware of telephone calls, mail, or email that claim to be from the CRA but are not. These are phishing scams that could result in identity thefts.

Canadians should especially beware of phishing scams asking for their personal information, such as a social insurance, credit card, bank account, and passport numbers. Some of these scams ask for this personal information directly, and others refer the taxpayer to a Web site resembling the CRA's where the person is asked to verify their identity by entering personal information.

An email scam that has been recently circulating notifies taxpayers that a complaint containing evidence of involvement in tax evasion has been filed against them and the company with which they are affiliated by using the Informant Leads Program. This email is not from the CRA. The CRA's Informant Leads Program Web page warns taxpayers about this scam.

The CRA has well-established practices to protect the confidentiality of taxpayer information. For more information about security of taxpayer information and examples of fraudulent communications, go to www.cra.gc.ca/security.

Anyone who receives a suspicious communication should immediately report it to info@antifraudcentre.ca or to the institution that it appears to be from.

For information on scams, to report deceptive telemarketing, and if personal or financial information has been unwittingly provided, go to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Web page at: www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/scams-fraudes/phishing-eng.htm.

This document is also available for download in PDF format.