Canada Revenue Agency Scam Dupes B.C. Woman Out Of $8,000

A scammer swindled a Burnaby, B.C. woman out of $8,000 with a very strange request this week. She got a call from a man claiming to be with the Canada Revenue Agency, and he told her she'd be put in jail if she didn't pay $8,000 in iTunes gift cards, Burnaby Now reported.



She bought 16 cards, each for $500, and gave the caller the activation codes over the phone.



The call came from a 613 Ottawa area code, RCMP said.



“It's sad to say that people are taking advantage of other people's goodwill,” RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis told Burnaby Now.



Earlier in April, a Calgary woman was duped out of $20,000 in a similar scam involving iTunes gift cards the CBC reported.



And in Saskatchewan, more than 200 people complained to Battlefords RCMP that they were receiving phone calls from fake CRA representatives.



In Ontario, York Regional Police warned residents about the same scam.



Cops never arrest people over unpaid taxes and missing immigration forms, the force said on Twitter Wednesday. If a caller threatens arrest or says a family member will be held in jail until money is paid, it's definitely a scam, they said.

The latest CRA phone scam has the caller ordering people to pay their back taxes in @iTunes gift cards. pic.twitter.com/QK25HC3WXs

- York Regional Police (@YRP) April 27, 2016

The CRA also warns Canadians that they should check with the agency if they receive suspicious requests for information or money.





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