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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-01-20, Page 1414 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, January 20, 2016 Goderich resident out almost $5,000 from CRA scam Huron County OPP are reminding residents once again to be aware of an active telephone tax scam that has duped several victims throughout the region. Just last week a Goderich resident fell vic- tim to this scam and now she is out $4,680. The victim reported that she had received a call from a male that claimed he was working for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The victim said the caller told her that she was guilty of tax evasion and owed $4,800 and then warned her that if she did not take care of the back taxes she would be arrested. The victim was instructed to pay the back taxes by sending the money through a money transfer service. The vic- tim followed the caller's instructions and sent $4,500 to the scammer. She also incurred a ser- vice charge for using the money transfer service. Shortly thereafter, the fraudster called back to advise the victim the "Judge" did not accept the payment and now they needed her to send in a certified cheque for another $5,000. When the victim refused the caller told her they had an arrest warrant for her and that they would be at her house the next day to arrest her. At this point the caller spoke to a family member about the calls she had received. She then in turn contacted police. The tax scam will often involve the use of threat- ening, aggressive and forceful language to scare victims into paying a ficti- tious debt owed to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Victims often report they were threat- ened with court charges, arrests, deportation and jail time. Another version of this scam involves the scammer telling the victim that they stand to receive a payment from the CRA for taxes owed. In order to receive the refund they must provide personal information such as a bank account number or a credit card number. These types of calls are designed to create anxiety and shock for the unsus- pecting resident. These feelings may lead victims to take action before thinking things through. Huron OPP and the CRA provide the following tips to keep residents safe from this scam: • Do not take immediate action. Verify that what you are being told is the truth. • Ask yourself, why would the CRA be asking for personal information over the phone or in an email when they have that information on file for you as a taxpayer. • Contact the CRA to confirm that you in fact owe back taxes, or are entitled to a refund, before sending any per- sonal information or banking information. • Never wire money to someone you do not per- sonally know. Hang up the phone if you get such a call and call the Canadian Anti -Fraud Centre to report the matter. For more information with regards to the secu- rity of taxpayer informa- tion and other examples of fraudulent communica- tions, please visit www. cra.gc.ca/security. To learn more about this fraud and many others please contact the Cana- dian Anti -Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or through http://www.anti- fraudcentre.ca As the Force Awakens in theatres, so does Parmalat's butter oil production Galen Simmons Postmedia Network It happened when the Hobbit movies premiered and it happened during every theatre -run of each of the Harry Potter films. In fact, demand for Par- malat Canada's Mitchell's facility butter oil in five - pound buckets seems to skyrocket every time a major blockbuster hits the- atres - and this year the demand increased more than ever thanks to the opening of the widely anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie in mid-December. "We produce butter oil in five -pound pails for (pop- corn at) movie theatres, pretty much across the nation - we sell it to multiple different locations," explained B.J. Nevin, Par- malat Canada's Mitchell's Logistics & Planning Manager. Since the food distributors that Parmalat Canada sells butter oil to supply many of the major Canadian theatre chains, demand for the product usually increases when a major blockbuster hits Canadian movie screens. This year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens awoke a greater demand for butter oil from Parmalat Canada's Mitchell plant than Nevin has seen in his four years of working there. "Near the end of the year here, orders have really spiked and have really been a lot higher continu- ing into this month than what we have seen in the past just because of the Star Wars movie," Nevin said. "We've seen in the past like with Harry Potter movies and stuff like that, we've seen this kind of spike, it always kind of lines up with a big movie." Since there weren't any major blockbuster hits in theatres in December 2014 - or at least none that could compare with the attendance recorded at the new Star Wars movie - demand for butter oil from the Parmalat Canada plant in Mitchell almost doubled last month when com- pared to the demand from a year ago. Besides producing butter oil for movie theatre pop- corn, Parmalat in Mitchell also sells butter oil in much larger batches to other manufacturers. Since the butter oil is made from milk in huge vats, filling an increased demand for smaller, five -pound buckets of butter oil can actually be more labour-intensive than filling the bigger orders for other customers. "We put butter oil in a lot of different sizes," Nevin continued. "The industrial side is a lot bigger but when a spike comes along, from our standpoint to make a smaller pail, it takes a lot more people and man- power and coordination. "Basically we have butter vats here and we pump it to a line with different fill heads and we're filling five pounds at a time," he continued. So next time you find yourself enjoying a salty, buttery popcorn at the the- atre, try to remember that butter oil most likely origi- nated in Mitchell. ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS TO FURTHER GROW YOUR BUSINESS. ‘Advertisers -Expand your Marketing Reach,' Contact us to speak with a Multimedia Marketing Specialist.