The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is cautioning Canadians about potential Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) scams, with an awareness campaign to “Slam the scam”.
The CRA recommends Canadians be wary of CERB-related text messages and is telling the public that it will not reach out to individuals suggesting they apply for CERB or that their payments have been transferred.
The CRA is reminding citizens of the legitimate ways to apply for CERB:
• online
• by toll free phone at 1-800-959-2019 or 1-800-959-2041 (bilingual)
The Agency recommends Canadians take precautions against online fraud such as keeping passwords, PINs, and user IDs secret, protecting Social Insurance Numbers, and to be skeptical of callers using threatening language and who demand immediate payment via electronic methods such as email or text.
The CRA urges Canadians to report potential fraud online to Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or by phone at 1-888-495-8501.
Source: Canada.ca