"Delete and move on": CRA text message scam claims to require identification

The scammers are back at it, and this time they’re asking for your identification, claiming to be the Canada Revenue Agency.

The text message scam claims to require identification and asks you to respond “HELP” for instructions on how to do so. Police say it’s best to ignore these kinds of texts as government agencies won’t send unsolicited text messages.

“Never provide personal or financial information by text or email. If you think it MIGHT be legitimate, reach out directly to that agency to talk to them. As far as texts like this, delete and move on,” Bill Dickson, media relations coordinator for the Ontario Provincial Police told Daily Hive in an email.

He said that these scams can be reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

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Screenshot of CRA scam text

A spokesperson for Toronto Police Service said that the CRA would never do the following:

• send an email or text with a link and ask you to divulge personal or financial information.
• ask for personal information of any kind by email or text message
• request payments by prepaid credit cards, gift cards or through Bitcoin or any form of crypto-currency
• give taxpayer information to another person unless formal authorization is provided by the taxpayer
• leave personal information on an answering machine
• or send the police after you

Toronto Police also advise that if someone from CRA calls you, hang up and call back the official CRA line. Don’t worry about being rude; it’s about protecting yourself from scams!

To learn more about the latest CRA scams, click here.