HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2013-12-18, Page 11Huron OPP warns of Revenue Canada scam
Huron County
OPP is warning
citizens of an
emerging scam
that has surfaced
recently in Huron
County and else-
where throughout
the region.
Two reported
cases to Huron
OPP over the last
week both involve
bogus emails
being sent to tar-
gets advising
them they were
eligible to receive
tax refunds from
Canada Revenue
Agency.
A resident from
Ashfield-Col-
borne-Wawanosh
received one of
these emails advis-
ing him that he
was eligible to
receive $521.51. In
order to receive
his refund he was
required to com-
plete and submit
an online tax
refund form. There
was a hyperlink in
the body of the
email where he
was supposed to
enter in various
pieces of personal
information such
as his Social Insur-
ance Number
(SIN), birth date,
address and credit
card information.
He did not fall for
the scam and
promptly reported
the matter to
police.
A resident from
Blyth received a
similar email on
Dec. 2, 2013. He
responded to the
email request to
receive a tax
refund of $671. He
replied with per-
sonal information
including his
credit card
number and SIN.
He later showed
another family
member the email
whereupon he
was informed that
it was a scam. He
was able to cancel
his credit card and
flag his accounts
prior to losing any
money. He also
took immediate
action by calling
Service Canada to
report his SIN number had
been compromised and to
alert them to future fraudu-
lent activity.
Huron County OPP said
the public should be skepti-
cal of any unsolicited com-
munication from the Canada
Revenue Agency. The com-
munication has the potential
to be a scam whether it is
through the telephone, mail,
or email. Be especially care-
ful if there is a request for
personal information.
Quite often there are
requests for personal infor-
mation, such as a social
insurance, credit card, bank
account or passport num-
bers. These fraudulent com-
munications are referred to
as scams and phishing
attempts. The scammer will
insist that you provide per-
sonal information in order to
process your income tax
refund or benefit payment.
Other times the scammer
will direct you to a web site
resembling the Canada Rev-
enue Agency's website where
they then ask you to verify
your identity by entering per-
sonal information. Do not
respond to these enquiries.
The Canada Revenue
Agency (CRA) does not do
the following: • The CRA will
not request personal infor-
mation of any kind from a
taxpayer by email. • The
CRA will not divulge tax-
payer information to
another person unless for-
mal authorization is pro-
vided by the taxpayer. • The
CRA will not leave any per-
sonal information on an
answering machine. • Any
formal letters by the CRA
will be addressed to the
actual person not, "Dear
TaxPayer" as in the case of
the two reported attempts in
Huron County.
If in doubt, ask yourself
the following: • Am I expect-
ing additional money from
the CRA? • Does this sound
too good to be true? • Is the
requester asking for infor-
mation I would not include
with my tax return? • Is the
requester asking for infor-
mation I know the CRA
already has on file for me? •
How did the requester get
my email address? • Am I
confident I know who is ask-
ing for the information?
To report a fraud call the
Canadian Anti -Fraud Cen-
tre at 1-888-495-8501 or go
online at www.antifraud-
centre.ca. Alternatively, you
can report fraud to your
nearest police service. Fur-
ther information about this
particular scam can be
found at www.cra-arc.gc.ca/
ntcs/frdlntmls-eng.html.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013 • Lucknow Sentinel 11
Pat McKillop Submitted
Lucknow Fire Department were called to a fire at the property
of Fred DeBoer early in the morning of Dec. 12, 2013. The fire
consumed a bank barn and farm equipment.
Barn burns, damage
estimated at $300,000
Lucknow Fire Department
and was called to a barn
blaze at the property of Fred
De Boer about 6 a.m. on Dec.
12, which destroyed the
structure, hay and various
pieces of farm equipment.
Fire chief Peter Steer said
about 10 firefighters
responded, with assistance
from Ripley Fire Depart-
ment, to the property on
South Kinloss Ave. in Huron -
Kinloss.
Steer said firefighters were
on the site for six hours, due
in part to hay smoldering
WISHES YOU
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A SAFE AND SAPPY
i HOLIDAY x;
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BRUCE POWER VISITORS' CENTRE
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and the wreckage of the bank
barn, which had been con-
verted from an old wood
frame to a building to house
machinery.
"The hay made the length
of the fire a lot longer, but we
had a high -ho in to assist,
which helped considerably,"
he said.
There were no injuries and
only one of the four build-
ings on site was consumed in
the blaze.
The building was insured
and damage estimate is
upwards of $300,000.
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