Stay alert for scams, as CRA contacts those affected by Heartbleed
Posted April 15, 2014 7:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Stay vigilant and do some research before giving away any money or personal information.
That’s the advice from police as the Canada Revenue Agency contacts people affected by the Heartbleed bug. Abbotsford Police Constable Ian MacDonald says there is a risk you will be targeted by scam artists.
MacDonald says police are not seeing any decrease in the number of scams; if anything, scams are becoming more sophisticated.
“What we’ve seen in Abbotsford and elsewhere is some of the scam artists are actually cloaking or disguising the incoming call number to try to lend credibility to the scam.”
He tells us adds if you’re contacted and asked for personal information or money, do some research.
“I would suggest that people obviously have to be aware of what’s happening in the news and recent developments, and how that could be used by scam artists moving forward,” he says.
The Canada Revenue Agency is sending out registered letters to those whose social insurance numbers have been stolen, so if you do get a phone call or an email, don’t respond.
The CRA re-opened access to its online filing systems over the weekend after the Heartbleed bug compromised security last week. About 900 social insurance numbers were taken.
