Taxes and phishing
10 December 2007
The Canada Revenue Agency is warning taxpayers to watch out for phishing scams this tax season. They have a good description of how these scams work:
- You receive an unsolicited e-mail or phone call promising you a significant amount of money, in the form of a lottery or sweepstakes jackpot, or a tax refund.
- To receive the promised money, you are asked to provide either an upfront deposit or confidential banking information, such as credit card or bank account numbers and passwords.
- You are then told that someone will get back to you with the promised payout, which doesn’t happen.
- When you try to recover the money, you find that the individual who contacted you has disappeared or never gives you a straight answer.
Good to know, particularly if you recognize what is happening at stage 1.
Read more about phishing