Scam targeting Mississauga and Brampton residents appears to offer tax refund

A scam now appearing on phones in Mississauga, Brampton and beyond looks like a message from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The text message appears to offer recipient a refund on their taxes. The message is an awkwardly worded note: “Your past *Tax.filing* for 2021 has been rectified, and we’ve sent you the sum here…” Typical of these types of scams, the message includes a link to click, which seems to be a CRA (misspelled) site.

But this is just another text scam message.

“The CRA will not use text messages or instant messages to start a conversation with you about your refund,” the Canada Revenue Agency notes on their website.

This is a phishing message aimed at getting personal information from the victim. The link will likely lead to a website asking for your social insurance number, date of birth and name. They might also ask for online banking information.

As with all messages of this type, the CRA asks that people don’t reply or send any information.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is also reporting more phishing scams via text or email message. In addition to tax refunds, there are also those claiming to be a bank or online subscription service such as Netflix or Amazon.

“The email may claim that you need to update your account or that your tax refund is ready,” they note. “Whatever the message is, the email is an attempt to trick you into providing your personal or financial information.”

For more tips on how to protect yourself from scams and fraud, click here.