Whenever I hear of those about someone getting sucked in by a scam phone call I always think to myself, who on earth would be stupid enough to fall for one of those.  Now we have been hit a few times, and we usually click in pretty quick that it’s a scam phone call, but mostly because they are so BAD.

No, I do NOT believe you need access to my computer.
Nope… the CRA is NOT email transferring me a refund.

But today… today I got hit, and they almost won.

It took me almost 30 minutes to figure out this was a CRA scam phone call, and if I am honest, a terrifying 30 minutes.  30 minutes where I spent most of it on the phone, crying and trying my very hardest not to lose all logic.

I found out while I was on the phone with the lovely CRA Fraud representative that this scam phone call is very common, and has been around for about a year. It is also the one that works the best… obviously.

It almost got me, so I want to tell you about it, so in case it happens to you, you are able to keep your cool, get the details you need to pass on, and keep your info safe.

And so hopefully you don’t spend your tuesday afternoon crying like I did.

First off, I am a good tax paying Canadian. We file, we pay, we open those scary brown envelopes.  We even answer the phone when the CRA calls.

BUT.. even with being well behaved tax payers, we are TERRIFIED of doing something wrong. The CRA brings fear to our hearts, knowing how much they can affect your life, and that we are “untrained” individuals attempting to understand “hard tax info”

And I am generally bad at math, and harbour a deep resentment of numbers.

(this is me trying to explain to you why I was so easily sucked into this scam phone call) 

Let’s set the stage….

I am sitting happily miserably doing my taxes and accounting for my business. Its a crappy, boring, yet necessary sort of thing to do, and it sucks a lot of the joy out of my day.  I filed my GST, and other paper work and considered myself a productive Canadian Business owner.

And then the phone rang….

Being “deep into business” and not recognizing the number, I let it go to voicemail, and this is what I heard.

First off… Yes, I HAVE QUESTIONS!!

So, as a good girl, I called the number.  I was told a case #, and that the CRA had audited our personal taxes from 2010-2014 and gathered evidence to support the charge that we had committed fraud against the government.

Now, I am a lot of things… but I am no frauder!

They told me they had delivered multiple letters to our address (a previous address) and since we have failed to respond in the required time they can only come to the conclusion that we were attempting to run from the charges.

I was told that I had a choice to comply with the charges, and pay the outstanding balance, or the case would be filed and decided in court.

As a good Canadian girl, I have NEVER GONE TO COURT, and the only thing I think of when someone says “arrested” is that I’ll be shuttered in a detention centre like Piper and the cast of Orange is the New Black.

I had visions of my kids coming home to be being hauled off in handcuffs and I saw months of chaos, stress and time to sorting this whole mess out.

And I was in NO WAY going to agree to ANYTHING without some proof.

So, as a smart girl (albeit terrified), I said, I need to see some documentation. I need my accountant to look at this, I need something in paper. I wanted to speak to a manager.

And this is where it got ugly.

Now… perhaps you have never experienced the wrath of a bill collector, but I have done my time being on the wrong end of the money stick… and their hostility is real. They bully, and use scare tactics and it all sounded so possible (I watch movies you know, these things DO happen).  They use your naivety and kindness against you. The push you so far into a corner that you don’t know how to get out.

This man put fear into my heart. He spoke over me, he bullied me and I felt very constricted, without choices or options.  He made me feel like a criminal, and his accusations and treatment brought out a very painful reaction.

Now, I wasn’t born yesterday, and there was no way I was paying a “bill” for something I hadn’t seen. Nor was I going accept blame for something without proof, which was probably the moment they realized I wasn’t their target market.  You don’t accuse me of fraud without some proof!

Which is probably why they hung up.  Not once, but each of the 3 times I called back and asked to speak to a manager.

My fourth call was to the CRA fraud department, where I, in tears, told her the situation.

If you think you are the victim of a CRA scam phone call 1-888-495-8501 to report!

Apparently this CRA Phone scam has been going around for about a year and is BY FAR their most successful one (and I can understand why)  It took me a long conversation with the fraud agent and a few phone calls to friends to bring me off my ledge.  I might have asked her at least a dozen times to please confirm I was not audited, and I was not going to be arrested.

I believed him. Not because I have done something wrong, but because as an upstanding Canadian I try so hard to do everything right, navigating a confusing field of taxation and business laws without a degree or enough study.

I look back now at what the signs were that this was a scam phone call, and they were very slight. Unnoticeable when I was in the panicked state that he put me in.

When asked WHY i called fraud? What was the moment that made me stop calling them and instead call the CRA fraud department?  I think it was because there WAS no one higher up. That when I kept asking for a manager, that is the moment they ended the conversation and stop trying.  A tiny glimmer of “something” in me recognized this as not professional.

I am not embarrassed, and I don’t feel like an idiot. I feel used and bullied, and very angry that these men were able to threaten me in the way they did, and that it worked.

I rarely have people who thrust their abuse at me, and hope to never again, and perhaps by listening to the phone call, and reading the story, if this incident happens to YOU, or someone you know, you will walk in with the knowledge to stop it before it goes bad.

Phone scams aren’t stupid, they work, and they scare the people involved to the point they don’t feel they have a choice.  The more we spread the word about the tactics they use, the better able we are to fight it.

Now… off to pour a hot bath and a glass of wine and appreciate that I am not behind bars tonight.