Phone scammers on the ropes after call centre bust
CALGARY – A major police operation in India may have made a major dent in what has been a pervasive telephone scam in Canada.
The Better Business Bureau reports only 25 complaints about the “Canada Revenue Agency” scam in the week following a bust at a call centre in Mumbai in early October. That number is down from 359 complaints in the week prior to the bust, which led to the arrest of 70 people and the questioning of hundreds of others.
“This is very welcome news, not just for us at Better Business Bureau but for all Canadian citizens,” spokesperson Leah Brownridge said in an interview Wednesday with Lethbridge News Now. “Especially newcomers to the country who were a prime target for this kind of scam.”
She said recent immigrants tend to be a particular target for the scammers, because they may not be familiar with the laws or standard procedures for tax collection. The scam sees callers demand repayment of taxes, sometimes in the form of gift cards, and often under threat of deportation or the seizure of children, Brownridge said. The same scammers who pose as CRA agents when talking to Canadians will try to ensnare Americans under the guise of the IRS.
