A raid on a call centre near Mumbai, India appears to have put a 丑补濒迟鈥攁迟 least 迟别尘辫辞谤补谤颈濒测鈥攖辞 the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) scam that has bilked hundreds of Canadians out of millions of dollars.
On October 5 police in India arrested 70 people at the call centre, and brought more people in for questioning, in connection with complaints about a similar scam in the United States where people were phoned and told they owed money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the American equivalent of the CRA.
鈥淏辞迟丑 scams were pretty much 颈诲别苍迟颈肠补濒,鈥� says Evan Kelly, senior communications adviser for the Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Mainland BC. Callers were informed of tax money supposedly owed, and threatened with arrest, fines, or deportation unless they paid the outstanding amount, usually by a prepaid Visa card or wire transfer.
A variation of the scam informed people that they were owed a refund, with the caller asking for personal information which could later be used for identity theft.
鈥泪 thought it was great for the 滨搁厂,鈥� says Kelly, of hearing about the raid in India. 鈥淎苍诲 I wondered if it would have an impact on the CRA 蝉肠补尘.鈥�
Numbers from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre show that it did. During the week of October 3 to 9, the centre received 358 complaints about the scam. In the week following the bust in India, the number of complaints dropped to 25.
鈥淥苍 first inspection it looks like having a dramatic impact, but I 诲辞苍鈥檛 know if this will lead to a long term decrease in the 肠补濒濒蝉,鈥� says Kelly. 鈥凄辞别蝉 one call centre affect everybody here, or have other call centres decided to lie low for a while? 滨迟鈥檚 difficult to say how widespread it 颈蝉.鈥�
The CRA scam took the top spot in last 测别补谤鈥檚 BBB National Top 10 Scams list, and Kelly says they will be tracking the number of complaints about it over the next couple of months.
The BBB reminds people that the CRA does not send out robocalls, does not demand wire transfers or prepaid credit cards, and will never ask for personal information over the phone or online.
Although many people were suspicious enough not to fall for the scam, the calls were persistent and often threatening. Kelly urges anyone who gets such a call, or who has been scammed, to record their experience at the 叠叠叠鈥檚 Scam Tracker site (bbb.org/scamtracker). 鈥渊辞耻 诲辞苍鈥檛 have to have lost money; just record your 别虫辫别谤颈别苍肠别.鈥�
It is estimated that only five per cent of those who have been scammed report the matter, either to the BBB, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, or the police, often because the victim is too embarrassed to say anything. 鈥泪t鈥檚 one of our biggest 辫谤辞产濒别尘蝉,鈥� says Kelly.
鈥淭丑别谤别鈥檚 nothing to be ashamed of. The best and brightest of us get scammed. But the more aware people are of the scams around them, the less likely they are to fall for 迟丑别尘.鈥�
