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Man threatened with arrest, deportation in new CRA scam

The fraudulant call occured Thursday morning
11050094_web1_Delta-Police

Lower Mainland residents are being threatened with arrest and deportation in a variation of the Canada Revenue Agency scam, according to a Delta Police Department release.

On Thursday, March 15, paramedics informed police that a distraught man had stopped at an ambulance station on Scott Road in Delta, saying that people were after him.

Those people, Delta police officers found out during a conversation with the man, were fraudsters claiming to work for the Canada Revenue Agency. During a phone conversation earlier that morning, the fraudster told the victim he owed $5,249 in unpaid taxes. They went on to say he and his family would be arrested and deported if he did not pay immediately.

The man was on his way to a Bitcoin ATM with the money when he stopped at the ambulance station for help.

According to Delta police public affairs coordinator Cris Leykauf, the man made the right decision in asking for help.

“Because of those decisions the man has not lost any money, and is now aware of this type of fraud, and ways to protect himself in the future,” she said in the release.

According to the Delta Police Department, these types of scams are particularly prevalent in Delta right now. Leykauf and other member of the police department have been contacted on their work and home phones by fraudsters as well.

“The real Canada Revenue Agency will not contact you suddenly by phone and demand immediate payment, or threaten arrest,” Leykauf said. “If you’re in doubt, hang up.”

Although the phone numbers may look like they come from the CRA or the police, Leykauf said, it’s easy to mimic those numbers using technology.

For more information on scams and fraud that uses the CRA, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/corporate/security/protect-yourself-against-fraud.html.