What to expect when the Canada Revenue Agency contacts you

Scammers posing as Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees continue to contact Canadians, misleading them into paying false debt. These persistent scammers have created fear among people who now automatically assume that any communication from someone representing the CRA is not genuine.

This tax tip will remind Canadians that the CRA does indeed contact taxpayers by phone, email and mail for legitimate reasons. The following tips will help Canadians identify legitimate communications from the CRA.

By phone

The CRA may

The CRA will never

By email

The CRA may

The CRA will never

By mail

The CRA may

The CRA will never

By text messages/instant messaging

The CRA never uses text messages or instant messaging such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp to communicate with taxpayers under any circumstance. If a taxpayer receives text or instant messages claiming to be from the CRA, they are scams!

Before giving money or personal information over the phone

Make sure the caller is a CRA employee

To protect yourself from scams, verify your tax status and make sure the CRA has your current address and email

When in doubt, ask yourself

Some of the reasons the CRA may call

They wrote to you previously or any of the following situations apply:

More information on tax scams and fraud can be found at canada.ca/taxes-fraud-prevention.

To report scams

To report scams, go to antifraudcentre.ca or call 1-888-495-8501. If you think you may be the victim of fraud or you unknowingly provided personal or financial information, contact your local police service, financial institution, and credit reporting agencies.

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