Tax season wrapped up several months ago.
By now, most people have received their refunds, or paid the government the money they owed, but one Winnipegger was recently told that she still had a large balance owing on her account.
And, she needed to pay it immediately or face arrest.
"He told me that you have to get a lawyer, and settle this account," said the victim. "If not, the police will come to your house."
It all started with a phone call. A man calling himself Paul told her she owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency. Fearing arrest, the victim walked 40 minutes to a Superstore with Paul still on the line.
"’Did you get the cards now?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Ok scratch the card, and give the numbers. Everything.’"
"Those iTunes cards are currency around the world," said Sgt. Shaun Veldman from the Winnipeg Police Service's Commercial Crime Unit. "They don't physically need the card. They just take that number, go online, make purchases."
Once he had the iTunes numbers, Paul told the victim she still owed another thousand dollars. He directed her to go back inside the store and buy a different type of gift card.
Luckily for her, they didn't have it. So she went to Shoppers Drug Mart, where an alert employee told her she was being scammed. Then the employee asked for the phone so she could talk to Paul.
"’Hey hey, stop bothering this lady! You’re not from CRA, you're a scam. This is a scam. It's a scam,’" the victim quoted the employee as saying to Paul.
And according to police, this victim’s experience is all too common. The fraud has netted victims across the country. And the scammers, who could be anywhere around the world, are difficult to find.
"The people doing this are very savvy, technologically," said Veldman. "And they're able to cover their tracks."
Police say prevention is the key, and that's why this woman is speaking out. She hopes no one else will fall victim to the scam.
A representative for Loblaw, the company that owns both Shoppers Drug Mart and Superstore, said that recently it's made efforts to let it's cashiers and customers know about the potential for these type of scams.
FULL STATEMENT FROM LOBLAW:
"Shoppers Drug Mart is aware of this ongoing fraudulent activity and has been trying to alert our customers whenever possible. In addition to in-store signage, we’ve implemented a prompt for our cashiers to advise customers purchasing iTunes card that there is a scam. We’re pleased to know that this has been successful in a number of cases. It is our hope that continued media attention on this issue will prevent other vulnerable Canadians from being victimized this way."
