Canadians are have been getting fewer phone calls from scammers pretending to be members of the Canada Revenue Agency lately — and it may have to do with a police operation in India earlier this month.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reports about 70 people were arrested at call centres in Mumbai — and they also confirm that the flood of scam calls Canadians have been getting have dwindled to a fraction.
"The calls that we're receiving have gone down quite dramatically since Oct. 6, which coincides with the arrests in Mumbai," says the Centre's Daniel Williams. "And we certainly hope this is something that will continue."
The Canada Revenue Agency scam is well-known — a caller claiming to be from the federal agency would claim the person owes large amounts of money in back taxes which need to be paid in short order, or have police come to their door to arrest them. In many cases, the scammers used threatening, and often foul language.
The scam has netted the fraudsters millions over the last few years, as unsuspecting victims hand over their credit card and other personal information.
Despite the arrests, Williams is warning people that the scam, and similar scams involving people posing as Canadian government representatives, are still very much out there.
"Any money-maker for scammers is something that you're going to have to deal with," he says. "If there's easy money to be had, there never seems to be a shortage of new gangs willing to take up the game. These calls can come back in large numbers at any time. Be prepared for them. Don't let your guard down."