1ST CHOICE Income Tax Service

Don't be a victim of fraud or identity theft!!

Two incidents that happened locally have prompted me to create this page and links to some very valuable information.

1st Choice Income Tax Service received an email recently that looked exactly like it came from Canada Revenue Agency and in fact had a link directly to the CRA site. I right away knew it was a scam. The email is titled "Canada Revenue Agency - Online Refund Form" and informed me that after the last annual calculation of my fiscal activity I was entitled to receive a tax refund of $386.00. It then went on to tell me to access a form to submit the tax refund by "clicking here". The reasons I knew it was fraudulent are:

1. I had no previous fiscal activity.
2. My tax return has already been filed and my refund received.
3. CRA does not contact you to advise you that you have a refund. More likely they would contact you if you owed money!
4. You do not "submit a tax refund", you submit a tax return and then receive a refund.

If you receive any type of communication like this, DO NOT "CLICK HERE" AND GIVE OUT ANY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION. You can forward the email to info@phonebusters.com or contact them at 1-888-495-8501.

The other incident I mentioned involved one of my clients receiving a phone call from someone saying they were from "REVENUE CANADA COLLECTIONS". This person was told they owed $1000.00 for a reassessment dating back two years and they had not been able to contact the client by any other method other than this phone call. Do not trust anyone who says they are from "Revenue Canada", the agency has not been called that for a number of years. Also if they can obtain your phone number they should be able to obtain your address and send you a bill.

In this day and age you must be extremely careful of releasing any personal or financial information to the wrong party. This is one reason 1st Choice Income Tax Service has implemented a Privacy Policy and we follow strict rules regarding client confidentiality. All client papers are stored in a secure location with limited access, any documents (hand-written  or computer generated) are shredded on site and no client's information is discussed or released to anyone but the client or their designated representative.

For more information on scams and fraudulent communications visit the RCMP's Phonebusters site or Canada Revenue Agency.

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