North Vancouver RCMP are reminding the public not to attempt to pay any tax bill using Bitcoin, after a North Vancouver resident learned her lesson the hard way, in what turned out be a scam.
According to police, the incident took place on March 19, 2018, when the victim received a phone call from an alleged employee of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The male caller told the victim she owed $6000.00 in unpaid taxes and if not paid immediately she would be arrested.
The victim was then directed to make the payment using a Bitcoin terminal on Mountain Highway. A transfer of $6000 was made by the victim to a Bitcoin reference code number supplied by the caller.
It was only after the transfer was made and the caller asked for even more money that the woman realized she had been scammed.
“Tax time is upon us and scam artists will use creative, criminal means to defraud you of your hard earned money,” said North Vancouver RCMP Cpl. Richard De Jong.
“The CRA does NOT accept Bitcoin as a method of payment, nor will they contact you by phone and threaten or coerce you into paying a tax bill.”
Those who want to confirm whether or not they have been contacted by an authentic CRA agent can call 1-800-959-8281 for individual concerns or 1-800-959-5525 for business-related concerns.
Anyone who has been the victim of fraud – or believes they have been – should report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.