CRA scams: fake calls, texts, and refund emails

Why CRA scams are everywhere

The Canada Revenue Agency is one of the most impersonated organizations in the country, because the combination is irresistible to fraudsters: a name everyone recognizes, money everyone cares about, and a healthy fear of getting taxes wrong. The scams come in two flavours - fear and reward - and both follow a script you can learn to recognize.

The threatening phone call

A recorded voice or an aggressive "agent" tells you that you owe back taxes, that a warrant has been issued for your arrest, or that your social insurance number has been "compromised" and "suspended". Police are on the way unless you pay immediately - by gift cards, cryptocurrency, or e-Transfer.

Every part of that is theatre:

• The CRA does not threaten arrest or send the police to collect a tax debt.
• A SIN cannot be "suspended".
• No government agency is paid in gift cards or cryptocurrency - ever. That demand alone settles the question: it's a scam.

The pressure to stay on the line is deliberate. Real agencies let you hang up and call back; scammers can't afford to.

The fake refund text or email

The reward version: "You have a refund waiting - claim it here", with a link, often dressed up as an Interac e-Transfer. The real CRA does not send refunds by e-Transfer and does not text you links to claim money. Refunds arrive by direct deposit to the account already on file, or by cheque - no clicking required.

The link leads to a fake page asking for banking credentials, your SIN, or card details "to verify your identity". Anything you type goes straight to the scammer.

How the real CRA contacts you

• Mostly by mail and by messages in My Account, its secure online portal.
• It may phone you, but a legitimate caller will not threaten you, demand payment on the spot, or object to you hanging up and calling back the official number listed on canada.ca.
• It will never ask for payment by gift card, crypto, or e-Transfer, never threaten immediate arrest or deportation, and never text you a "click to claim" link.

When in doubt, go to the source

Don't argue with the message in front of you - check the actual state of your taxes:

• Sign in to My Account on canada.ca by typing the address yourself (never through a link in a message). A real balance owing, or a real refund, will show there.
• Or call the CRA at its official number from canada.ca and ask.

Two minutes of checking beats any amount of arguing with a caller.

What to do with a suspicious call or message

• Hang up. Nothing bad happens when you hang up on a scammer. If you're worried, call the CRA back at its official number.
• Don't click. Check My Account instead.
• Forward scam texts to 7726 and report phishing emails in your mail app.
• Get a second opinion - paste the message into our Scam Text Checker.
• If you paid or shared personal information, call your bank immediately, report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (1-888-495-8501), and if your SIN was involved, contact Service Canada and consider placing fraud alerts with the credit bureaus.

The one-line rule

The real CRA wants its money slowly, through boring official channels, with paperwork. Anyone who wants it right now, in gift cards, with police at your door, is reading from a script. Suspicious message? Check it before you act.