An Owen Sound woman is the victim of a tax collection scam.
The woman received a call yesterday from a man claiming to be a Canada Revenue Agency Inspector. She was told that she was in arrears for unpaid taxes and that payment had to be made immediately or a warrant would be issued for her arrest.
A short time later a second man called the victim and portrayed himself as a police officer. He warned her that he would be arresting her if payment was not made immediately.
The woman was convinced to make multiple cash deposits and money transfers through specified accounts and money transfer services.
The victim eventually went to Owen Sound Police Services to find out if there was a warrant for her arrest, and officers were able to determine it was a scam.
Police were able to interrupt three of the transactions before they were complete, however the victim was still missing a significant amount of cash. Police are still investigating.
People are reminded that this type of tax scam is common, especially this time of year with the recently passed tax deadline.
The Canada Revenue Agency and the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre are both aware of this scam and have posted on their websites numerous recommendations to protect people from this and similar types of fraudulent criminal activity.
If you are contacted by a government or law enforcement agency and are suspicious of the call, it is recommended you try to obtain a call-back number, along with the person’s name and position with the agency.
The call-back number and person’s credentials should be verified first through the appropriate government or law enforcement websites or other means before returning the call, acting on instructions, or providing personal information.
