It’s Tax Season! Be Aware of Scammers

It’s tax season once again and that also means some Merritt residents will likely receive an email or text message from someone passing themselves off as an employee of the Canadian Revenue Agency.

Each year, millions of dollars are scammed from Canadians with 2021 being a costly year for scams and frauds.

Merritt RCMP once again warning residents that now that tax season is here,  that they should beware of phone and email scams.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reports that up until the end of November, 46,604 Canadians were victims of fraud, resulting in a loss of $231 million dollars.

Sgt Josh Roda of the Merritt detachment told Q101  what residents should do if they suspect they have been the victim of a scam.

“If any one in the community feels like they are the victim of a scam or some other criminal activity, then I encourage you to contact the RCMP so we can open an investigation,” Roda said.

Roda added that the detachment has noticed a dip in the amount of fraud and scam calls being reported recently and he hopes that is a good sign.

“We know the scam calls and emails are still happening but very few are being reported,” he noted. “We are hoping it’s because more people are recognizing these are phishing attempts and just deleting them.”

Roger.White@pattisonmedia.com