There appears to be a new type of fraudulent call claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency. I received a call saying that I was charged with tax evasion and tax deficiency and was told that charges were going to be filed in court in Whitehorse and then the RCMP would pick me up and I would be in jail for 10 days.
This continued with sections of the Revenue Canada Act being cited. The only request was that I give the name of my criminal lawyer. I asked for the name of the caller and was told it was Kevin Johnson (he had a distinctly foreign accent) and I was given a badge number. I checked the phone number and it was 305-224-1007.
I asked for the charges to be sent to me but he said that the RCMP would explain it all. I said that I would wait for the RCMP and the call ended. I was not concerned as I knew that I had not committed fraud. It was unclear what they were after, because the only information they asked for was the name of my lawyer.
I share this because it was intimidating and could be very upsetting to victims. I attempted to report this to the anti-fraud centre of Revenue Canada but they said they had too many calls and to report it online. I tried this but it is very complicated and I gave up.
Just a reminder to others: This is not the way that the Canada Revenue Agency operates. Clearly there are many scams and this is just one more.
Audrey McLaughlin
Whitehorse