Phone call from Revenue Canada..

[fidoguydo]

I got a call on my cell from Revenue Canada today. The guy claims he is verifying my information... He asked me what my address was, my date of birth and when I last filed my taxes... I basically stopped there cause I thought, why the hell are they asking me this when they have it on file.... I had a gut feeling it's a scam of some sort trying to get more info from me. Anyone else have these calls?

How can one protect themselves from identity theft?

[Nikita]

Call RC and ask them if it's legit, which it probably isn't, but it's the only way to satisfy yourself and make sure RC really isn't wanting to talk to you.

[Snicla]

Odd. Never heard of that happening. Protect yourself by not giving any of the information out. Ask them what they have on file and then verify it, instead of offering the information to them.

Or ask for a toll free # for their office + extension and you'll call them back.

[Wilmega]

Those are standard security questions but i'm not sure if they would ask those when making outgoing calls.

[fidoguydo]

Initially, the guy was confirming, by asking "is this your address and number?" I said yes, then he asks when I filed my taxes, I said last year and don't remember the month. Also he asked what my DOB was and I answered and that's when I stopped.

His phone # was also hidden. I caught me unguarded since I was walking into my car. I hope I didn't give too much out. But this is info, anyone can get on me if they did some digging.

[molala]

You should never verify or give out any information to anyone that phoned you. If they are legit, they are ok if you said you will call them back. Regardless of where they claimed they are from, ALWAYS call them back with a number you looked up yourself. It was a scam!

[UncleSteve]

Found this article on a blog on this exact issue:

http://www.riskbloggers.com/kurtseifried/2007/06/canada-revenue-agency-helping-identity-thieves/

Here's the interesting part:


The 1-800 number she gives me is legitimate and listed on the CRA web site under “contact us” which says to me I either got a really ballsy scam artists, or the CRA’s procedures for contacting people and getting information from them really sucks. So right now we have either a case of a pretty good phishing attempt, or a severely dysfunctional government agency. Any guesses as to which one it is?

Yup, as it turns out CRA regularly contacts people via phone and asks them for their Name, Social Security Number, current address, birth date and other particulars in order to confirm them. In other words they are training people to be identity theft victims. Good job.

[Snicla]

I don't think there's much they can do with just address, name, and birth date. I could be wrong though.

[Wilmega]

Gov't numbers are always listed. Even with secure lines. Hopefully you didnt give out your SIN. I would call them back... and if they attempted to call you they would have those notes on file that they called you.

[ricoboxing]

scam. revenue canada always sends you a letter for stuff like that.

[fidoguydo]

I don't think there's much they can do with just address, name, and birth date. I could be wrong though.

The caller already had my name, address and home # and obviously cell#. So the only new bit of info he got was my DOB. What's weird is he called me on my cell... I don't think I ever gave that to revenue canada.

I gotta be way more careful next time.... can't let my guard down for a sec!

[fidoguydo]

Found this article on a blog on this exact issue:

http://www.riskbloggers.com/kurtseifried/2007/06/canada-revenue-agency-helping-identity-thieves/

Here's the interesting part:

Interesting indeed. Now that I think of it. Every year when I do my taxes, I'm verifying my information.....

[almostfreeman]

scam. revenue canada always sends you a letter for stuff like that.

YUP, there is a protocol for contacting you ... NEVER give out personal info to

an incoming caller.

If you do get a seemingly legit call then tell them that YOU will call THEM.


P.S. Why would anyone give their cell phone # to Revenue Canada anyway? :confused:

[ukgirl]

I had a call from RC once and it said REVENUE CANADA on the caller Id so i would be wary if it was a withheld number.

[Jucius Maximus]

I don't think there's much they can do with just address, name, and birth date. I could be wrong though.

The three main things that identity thieves want are name, DOB and SIN.

By the way, Name, Address and DOB are enough for most credit card applications!

[Menace]

Frock it! Ask him to send the request form. You don't take a chance in these days.

[fidoguydo]

I've got CreditSmart from CIBC so it alerts me whenever there is a change on my credit file so I'll keep an eye out.

[deltone]

A couple of months ago I got a call at home from a guy saying he was from CIBC fraud division. Can't remember his exact title but anyway...

So he identifies himself and he's looking for my husband. I tell him that he's not here and could I take a message. He tells me it's urgent he speak to him immediately because there has been some questionable activity on his CIBC credit card so I told him my husband's work # and told him to call him there as he wasn't about to give me any more info and I wasn't going to give him any either.

So when I hung up I called my husband quickly and warned him that a possible scammer was going to call him and reminded him to not give out any info as even though my husband is no dummy, sometimes when you get caught off guard you answer questions without thinking.

So, sure enough the guy calls my husband and hubby tells him I won't answer any of your questions but give me your # which he did. My husband confirmed that it was a CIBC # before calling the guy and sure enough it was legit.

Apparently someone got hold of his CC# and made a very small transaction (just over $11) in some small town in the US. This didn't trigger anything but then after that, they tried to make a very large transaction in Libyia, or some country over in Africa (not Nigeria). Thankfully they didn't let it go through. They cancelled the card and within a day he received a brand new card. Strange thing is, the only place my husband had ever used this card (other than paying his 407 bill and Bell Mobility bill) was at our local Kelseys, Canadian Tire and Giant Tiger.

Interestingly enough, our friend had the exact same thing happen within days of this happening to my husband and he too had used his card at Kelseys so we figure it had to have happened there but we of course have no proof. Just one more reason to be very careful about allowing your credit card to leave the table with the waiter/waitress.

[MrBurns]

Federal employees are too busy watching "hold" lights blink to bother calling people.

[ferrarivision]

It is a scam I remember reading about this....

You can look on http://www.rcmp.gc.ca you should find a scam section there im sure they are aware of this one a classic...

Also a call like this saying its your Bank etc... will get the info they want to steal you identity or whatever they want to do with that info.

cheers

[getmail99]

......Interestingly enough, our friend had the exact same thing happen within days of this happening to my husband and he too had used his card at Kelseys so we figure it had to have happened there but we of course have no proof. Just one more reason to be very careful about allowing your credit card to leave the table with the waiter/waitress.

thanks for the story, so any suggestions? follow the waiter/waitress to the cashier?

[deltone]

thanks for the story, so any suggestions? follow the waiter/waitress to the cashier?

Actually, it's not a bad idea. Reason being, when that card is out of your sight, the person can write down your #, expiry date and that other special # and voilla, you're toast. If you never let the card out of your sight, they'd be hard pressed to be able to do it.

Maybe it's a coincidence that our friend, and my husband both had their cards compromised after being in the same restaurant but I highly doubt it. We always meant to go into the restaurant again and warn the manager but we never got around to it. I would imagine that the Visa or Mastercard people would do their own investigating.

I don't leave my card out of my sight since then. (unless I'm forced to).

[tng11]

thanks for the story, so any suggestions? follow the waiter/waitress to the cashier?

It's going to change as the chip credit cards come out in Canada.

In Europe they bring out a wireless terminal and complete the transaction in front of you when you enter your PIN. The card is completely in your control.

[FazerRider]

OP if you are paranoid contact credit agencies (equifax & transunion) and simply tell them you lost your i.d. with s.i.n. (so you dont need to give them a long explanation). they will put a fraud alert that lasts 6-7 years. if someone tries to use your info to apply a credit card or take out a loan you will be contacted at a phone number of your choice.

[Maxman]

IT was me that called.

I didn't get all the info, so PM me with your name, address, DOB, SIN, all credit card numbers (include the validation number), and when you won't be home. Also, if you have a safe, the combination will prevent me from making quite a mess with all those explosives. Also, provide a list of your wife's/gf's likes, dislikes!

Seriously, I really doubt that anyone at CRA would call your cellphone. And if they did, they would likely ask you to call back rather than verify your info. Where I work (similar to CRA), when we make an outgoing call, we generally have all that info on our computer screens prior to making the call. We would ask that you verify your account number and name. Thats about it.

If it really was CRA, they'll give you a contact name and number. Just call them back. Ask for a second number to confirm legitimacy (such as 1-800 or direct line).

Maxman

[andrew2good4u]

scam. revenue canada always sends you a letter for stuff like that.

There's apparently scam letters too.

[deltone]

It's going to change as the chip credit cards come out in Canada.

In Europe they bring out a wireless terminal and complete the transaction in front of you when you enter your PIN. The card is completely in your control.


A lot of restaurants here have the wireless terminal for debit cards but not sure if they bring it for credit cards which don't require a PIN.

What are these chip cards and when are they getting here?

[tng11]

A lot of restaurants here have the wireless terminal for debit cards but not sure if they bring it for credit cards which don't require a PIN.

What are these chip cards and when are they getting here?

The Visa/Mastercards are coming out with smart chips embedded on the card face, there was a pilot done in K/W through early 2008.

A lot of banks are rolling them out as we speak. I have RBC, TD, CIBC, BMO, Scotiabank credit cards which all have the smart chips on them. Debit cards are also going to get the smart chip on them in the transition. The major roll-out will be through 2009 as far as I know.

Instead of signing your signature, you will insert the card into a slot and enter a PIN like a debit card right now hence the need for a wireless terminal in all restaurants. However a lot of merchants haven't converted to terminals which make use of the chip and you will continue to sign like a regular card. I've ran into a handful of merchants in the GTA which are actually using chip readers, but they're quite scarce for now. The full transition is supposed to be done by 2011 or something like that.

http://www.visa.ca/chip/