Dear editor,
I just got an E-mail from the Revenue Canada Agency saying they recalculated my income tax and I was getting an additional $410 refund, and all I had to do was ‘click here’ to get to the site where I was to fill out a form with my social insurance number and bank info to get it.
It all looked official and even had a representative’s name and ID number and all the proper-looking logos and classified-looking numbers.
I found it odd that they would ask for my SIN number since they, of all agencies, would have it on file, so I called Revenue Canada (getting a official phone number from my own searching online) to verify it’s authenticity.
It was fraudulent!
They told me that they would never E-mail such a message nor ask for such information. They would have just sent a refund cheque with an explanation.
So, NEVER give your social insurance number or bank account information online. I would like to think of myself as an a fairly intelligent sort, but if not for my fear of giving out my SIN, even I might have fallen for the very legitimate-looking message they sent me.
If you HAVE fallen for this trick, call the Competition Bureau at 1-888-495-8501 or go to their Anti-Fraud Centre website at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca to make a report (like I did) and/or get assistance.
Denise Sevier-Fries,
