Mounties in Prince George are reminding people to be vigilant about fraudulent schemes this month.
As part of during Fraud Prevention Month, Cpl. Craig Douglass says the local detachment has received more than 170 fraud-related reports to date in 2020, with 44 of them being just from March 1 to 9.
During the same time period last year, police received 151 fraud reports with 27 of those in the first nine days of March, adding these are 13 and 63 per cent increases.
"There are at least two possible reasons for the increase," he says in a news release.
"Fraudsters are getting more creative and increasing their success despite the increased public awareness, or the public are becoming more educated about frauds and are reporting more incidents to police. As much as we hope the answer is the ladder, it is likely the former."
Last year, the most received type of fraud complaints were extortion type frauds, which includes the taxpayer scam.
"This is where victims are coerced to pay back taxes under the threat of being arrested.," Douglass adds.
"Variations also include scams involving immigration, ransomware and sextortion. This continues to be the most common reported fraud in Prince George."
Were you contacted about a tax debt by someone claiming to be us? If you think it might be a scam, contact us to make sure! https://t.co/iCdz1BEix3 pic.twitter.com/KVMQYZUlni
— Canada Revenue Agency (@CanRevAgency) February 15, 2020
In order to avoid tax scams, remember the following general words of advice:
- Do not take immediate action. The government has processes in place to acquire owed money, none of which are immediate
- Know who you are dealing with. Obtain their contact information and search it on the internet. Often the contact info will be associated to frauds and not the CRA. This is a clear warning that this is not legitimate
- Hang-up and call the Canada Revenue Service's (or other government agency) toll-free phone number in the Blue Pages of the phone book or from their website, www.cra-arc.gc.ca.
- Never give your personal information to anyone that calls you over the phone. This is especially the case when an organization such as the Canada Revenue Agency calls and should have all your necessary information already
- Never agree to wire back funds to the government
For more information about frauds and scams involving the CRA, you can visit the Canada Revenue Agency web page at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/scrty/frdprvntn/menu-eng.html.
For a full list of the top frauds in Canada, go to www.antifraudcentre.ca.
If you have any information about fraudulent offences in Prince George, you are asked to call the detachment at 250-561-3300.
