Over the past several days I've received reports of a new variation on an old scam. You are all familiar with the scam phone calls where the individual calling claims to be a police officer or a representative of the Canada Revenue Agency and informs you that you have a serious outstanding matter that must be addressed immediately. Anyone foolish enough to take the caller seriously ends up being asked to make a payment to an account set up by the caller or to send a large number of fully paid iTunes or Visa gift cards to a specific address.
In the latest variation of this scam, the caller will seem to have a lot of information about the person being called or a significant member of their family [e.g. your spouse, parents, adult children, etc.]. The caller may claim that your family member has been arrested, is facing arrest or owes a significant sum of money for taxes and penalties. The caller may also indicate that the person being called is subject to an arrest warrant, potential garnishment of wages, etc.
Anyone falling for this scam will be asked to make a payment to an account controlled by the caller. However this time the caller may demand that the payment be made in Bitcoin's or some other cyber currency.
The people making these calls are very clever. They select their victims by looking through social media accounts, such as Facebook, targeting people who post personal information about themselves or family members on these accounts (this is where they obtain information that they can use when they call you, to give the appearance that the call is legitimate). As part of the ruse, the caller may offer to send someone to your place of work or home to collect funds or may insist on meeting with you at a police station or office of Revenue Canada [depending on which variation of this scam is being employed by the caller]. The caller may also use a special electronic device which tricks the call display on your phone, causing it to show a number for the call which is a legitimate number for the agency that the caller claims to represent.
If you receive one of these calls:
• Hang up and DO NOT give any information to the caller!
• Remember that Revenue Canada and the police do not phone individuals about serious matters. Revenue Canada will send you a letter by registered mail along with appropriate documents outlining the matter and indicating the actions that you must take. In respect of a serious matter which could result in your arrest or the arrest of someone close to you, the police will send out an officer to the home or place of work of the individual they seek to arrest and make the arrest. Furthermore in most cases the police will not call you to advise that they've arrested a member of your family, and they will certainly not provide you any information over the phone regarding the reasons for such an arrest.
• The police do not accept payments for fines, bail, etc. These are handled through the courts and their authorized agents. Furthermore no government agency will accept payment by Bitcoin or any other form of cyber currency. Neither the police nor any other government agency will ask you to make payment directly to a specific bank account. All payments made to government are made to the Receiver General.
• If you are concerned that there may be some legitimacy to the call, hang up and contact the agency in question [police, CRA, etc.] and seek their confirmation [look up the number for the agency online and do not call any phone number provided by the scam caller].