CARP wishes to issue a friendly tax time reminder to be wary of online scams and frauds.  Information sharing and awareness go a long way when it comes to preventing these crimes.
Members should be aware of the many kinds of internet, telephone and door to door scams.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud centre is a good repository of information and describes the scams.

Emails from banks, western union, moneygram, foreign and domestic government agencies (including Canadian Revenue), credit card companies, Paypal, lotteries, and international correspondents offering money, are in almost all cases, fraudulent, sent out in bulk and should be discarded.

Telephone and online cries for financial help from family and friends, (grandchildren) on Facebook, Hotmail, or over the phone are also common frauds and should be treated with caution.

April is a common month for phony emails from Canadian Revenue Agency, asking that you confirm details for your recent filings. While everyone in Canada is busy filing their taxes, some might not question a query from the government and may unwittingly give out information that will be used to steal from them in a widespread fraud.

Now these crimes may seem minor in most cases, but in the case of seniors, any money lost is gone with precious little time to regain that money through investment or employment.

What’s more, cybercrimes are notoriously difficult to police – part of the reason organized crime has added this type of fraud to their repertoire.