The North Bay Police Service continues to receive complaints from residents who have been the target of an ongoing telephone scam.
On Saturday, a North Bay resident contacted police to report that he received several calls from a man with a heavy foreign accent who claimed he was from the “fraud unit of North Bay” located on “Princess Street West.”
The fraudster then claimed that the Canada Revenue Agency had completed an audit of the resident’s account and that he owed a large sum of money. He then threatened to take him to court if he did not immediately pay the balance owing.
Public alert!
The North Bay Police Service advises the public to be aware of calls from people claiming to be collecting funds for the Canada Revenue Agency.
The Canada Revenue Agency:
- never uses aggressive language;
- never asks for information such as credit cards, health cards, or passport numbers;
- never threatens to send police, to lay criminal charges, to take you to court and/or to have you put in jail if you don’t pay your taxes.
For more information, visit the fraud prevention section of the Canada Revenue Agency’s website at: cra.gc.ca/fraudprevention
What to do if you are a target
If a telephone scammer uses threats to coerce you into providing personal or financial information, ignore the call and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or by calling 1-888-495-8501.
