NEWS RELEASE
SAULT STE MARIE POLICE SERVICE
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Officers with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service have seen an increase in the number of calls for service regarding fraudulent transactions over the telephone.
Scammers identifying themselves as representatives from the Canada Revenue Agency are calling unsuspecting victims and advising them that they will be arrested if they do not pay their taxes.
Victims are instructed to purchase either ITunes gift cards or bit coins and provide them to the scammer over the phone.
Legitimate officials with the Canada Revenue Agency will never ask you to transfer funds over the phone and will never ask for payment in gift cards or bit coins.
If you receive a call such as this, we recommend that you tell the caller that you know it is a scam and then end the call by hanging up the phone. Do not release any of your personal information to the caller.
These callers tend to prey on elderly people so we encourage members of the public to educate their friends and family members about online or phone scams.
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