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Tax refund scam Canada

free_radical
Explorer
Explorer
Got official looking email from Gov of Canada irs saying I have refund of 300$ coming.

Asked me to fill out aplication stating my name adress etc

Red flag right there

1 Canada Gov knows my name and adress.
2 I get refund the same day I do my taxes at H&R block.
3 irs never send emails,they use paper mail for all corespondence.
4 all refunds hst tax and carbon credits get deposited electronicaly to my bank acount.

Hope this help someone to avoid geting riped off.

I also log off turn off wifi my comp when not using it.
9 REPLIES 9

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
Of course you should check if the sender / link is valid. If it appears valid from someone I know, I will often email them back saying "Did you email this and what's it about?".

I feel quite safe using email carefully.

Fizz
Explorer
Explorer
joebedford wrote:
CRA ("Canada irs") DOES send emails:

CRA email


Didn't know that, thanks.

monkey44
Nomad
Nomad
We never click on links in emails. We always go directly if approproate or ignore it if not. Hover over the sender and it will often show the actual source as BB_TX explained. Even if it shows the correct sender nowadays, we still go direct to OUR source page, click no links.
Monkey44
Cape Cod Ma & Central Fla
Chevy 2500HD 4x4 DC-SB
2008 Lance 845
Back-country camping fanatic

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
CRA ("Canada irs") DOES send emails:

CRA email

I try to do EVERYTHING via email. It's annoying as hell when so 2-factor logins insist on a text message for 2nd factor.

BB_TX
Nomad
Nomad
bob_nestor wrote:
BB_TX wrote:
Any time I get any email from someone not in my contact list I open the email and click on the the senderโ€™s name or address in the from block. That opens the properties for the sender info and likely as not the โ€œofficial lookingโ€ address is actually something crazy like dvgyhgcfgh;567,;7@$/;,?! .com. I click on Block this contact. And then move it to junk or spam.


Actually it's not difficult to fake the sending address in an e-mail. You need to look a bit deeper into the headers which aren't normally displayed to determine how real the e-mail is. Had a co-worker years ago who maintained the company e-mail system demonstrate that by faking up a message which appeared to come from the President of the US.

Yes, I sometimes get emails with the sender name of someone in my contact list. But the content of those emails typically contain content that is not consistent with what I expect, such as asking me to click on a link to see some odd subject. Clicking on the sender name and checking the properties shows the actual sender email address is far from the person who supposedly sent it. Actually I never click on any link without checking the sender properties first.

bob_nestor
Explorer III
Explorer III
BB_TX wrote:
Any time I get any email from someone not in my contact list I open the email and click on the the senderโ€™s name or address in the from block. That opens the properties for the sender info and likely as not the โ€œofficial lookingโ€ address is actually something crazy like dvgyhgcfgh;567,;7@$/;,?! .com. I click on Block this contact. And then move it to junk or spam.


Actually it's not difficult to fake the sending address in an e-mail. You need to look a bit deeper into the headers which aren't normally displayed to determine how real the e-mail is. Had a co-worker years ago who maintained the company e-mail system demonstrate that by faking up a message which appeared to come from the President of the US.

pianotuna
Nomad II
Nomad II
Thanks for the heads up free radical
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

BB_TX
Nomad
Nomad
Any time I get any email from someone not in my contact list I open the email and click on the the senderโ€™s name or address in the from block. That opens the properties for the sender info and likely as not the โ€œofficial lookingโ€ address is actually something crazy like dvgyhgcfgh;567,;7@$/;,?! .com. I click on Block this contact. And then move it to junk or spam.

Fizz
Explorer
Explorer
I can vouch for the Paper Mail part.
Last spring Wife got a letter saying she owed an extra $800. Ha Ha she thinks, it's a scam. She dug up the proper phone number and called.
Ouch, not a scam.