Feb 20, 2016
I received a call from 613 366 3267 on my work number. Person claimed to be Shawn White from the Tax Crime Investigation of the CRA. Said I was suspected of tax evasion and that I or "my attorney" had to call back right away. I am a lawyer and was rather intrigued by this, so I called back. The call was answered by a guy who sounded just like the Shawn White who had left the message but he gave a different name. It sounded like a call centre in the background. He put me on hold a couple of times and then said I had better have "my attorney" call him. I said "I am an attorney" and he hung up. This is obviously a scam of some sort. I talked to my tax lawyer about it because I wondered what the point of it was if all this guy was going to do was hang up on people who called back. She told me that they just make random calls until they find the right victim, usually an elderly person. They then scare them into sending money. This happened to my tax lawyer's grandmother and she took a cash advance and wired the money. My lawyer also warned me that if these people get hold of someone's SIN they can cause a lot of havoc and grief so if you have given your SIN to someone like this you have to report that to the police. But this will result in there being a flag on your SIN for 5 to 10 years, which will make it harder for you to get credit in the future and you would be at risk for identity fraud. So the lesson is: Do not speak to these people, and if you do, do not give them any personal information such as your SIN or credit card information!