Beyond Payments: How CRA Scams Aim for Your Personal Info

While many CRA scams focus on demanding fake payments, a significant goal for fraudsters is often to get your personal and financial information. This is known as phishing, and it can lead to identity theft.

What Are They After? Scammers want details like:

• Your Social Insurance Number (SIN)

• Your banking information (account numbers, credit card details)

• Your date of birth

• Your address

• Your mother's maiden name or other security questions

They'll use various tricks – like claiming you're due a refund and need to provide details to get it, or threatening you with legal action unless you "confirm" your identity.

The CRA's Information Policy: The CRA will never ask for personal financial information of a sensitive nature (like your full bank account number or passwords) in an email or text message. If they call, they will usually ask for limited personal information to confirm your identity after they have identified themselves, but they won't pressure you for sensitive data that they should already have on file.

Always be suspicious of any communication asking for too much personal data, especially if it feels urgent or threatening. Your personal information is valuable, and you need to protect it from fraudsters.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/campaigns/fraud-scams.html