TORONTO 鈥� Canadians across the country have expressed their frustration with the influx of scam and robocalls purporting to be from such federal organizations as the Canadian Revenue Agency and RCMP across the country.
For many Canadians, these calls involve a robotic voice informing the listener that they are in imminent danger of arrest or a lawsuit, before proceeding to ask for personal information. Many Canadians report receiving multiple calls a day.
鈥淎ctually on Tuesday I got around six calls from four different numbers with the same message 鈥榶our SIN is compromised and legal action has started鈥� blocked each of them, since then no more鈥� Thursday.
Another 鈥渇or the past 6 weeks.鈥�
A spokesperson for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) confirmed to CTVNews.ca in an email Thursday that these calls are 鈥渙ne of the top reported scams鈥� that they deal with.
In 2019, so far the CAFC said they had received 2,639 reports about scam calls related to the Canadian Revenue Agency.
鈥淭hey are international in scope,鈥� the CAFC said, which means that 鈥渏urisdictional and legal challenges in collecting evidence鈥� will be an issue, as law enforcement investigators will have to abide by laws in other countries.
The CAFC spokesperson added that caller ID 鈥渟poofing鈥� makes it difficult to trace or identify the origin of the calls along with the use of 鈥減re-paid cards and virtual currencies for the receipt and laundering of victim鈥檚 funds鈥� adding a layer of sophistication to the scam which makes it harder for law enforcement to investigate.
In March, more than 60 scammers who were targeting Canadians in CRA scams were busted in a large takedown in India. The bust involved more than 40 illegal call centres in that country.
At the time, the RCMP stated they were 鈥渃ontinuing to develop leads and information on the locations of these illegal call centres for enforcement purposes, in an effort to dismantle and disrupt these types of mass marketing schemes.鈥�
It鈥檚 not clear if the calls plaguing Canadians recently originate from India.
CRTC spokeswoman Patricia Valladao told CTVNews.ca that the advent of technology like voice over internet protocol (VOIP) has seen an increase in scam calls, but the agency doesn鈥檛 know what鈥檚 behind the recent surge.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know why there鈥檚 more, maybe the time of year. They go in trends,鈥� Valladao said.
That message was echoed by Jeff Thompson, a senior RCMP intelligence agent working for the CAFC.
鈥淭hese scams have existed since 2014, but they do come in waves. From one month to the next we鈥檙e going to see spikes in activity and we鈥檙e seeing one of those spikes right now,鈥� Thompson said on CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Friday.
Thompson said there were three critical aspects of these calls that Canadians should pay attention to:
Don鈥檛 trust caller ID
鈥淐all display today can be spoofed,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淪poofing involves fraudsters manipulating those numbers that appear on your call display, and they can make it look like it鈥檚 a government department calling, a local telephone number [or] they can put your local police phone number.鈥�
Automated messages
Thompson said that while federal bodies like the RCMP may leave a message for someone, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e definitely not going to threaten anybody or scare anybody to call back.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 never going to have that aggressive tone to say you need to do this right away,鈥� he said.
Using automated messages that have 鈥渁larming鈥� tones is really the fraudster鈥檚 way of 鈥渆xtorting and coercing an individual鈥檚 reaction to the call,鈥� Thompson said, adding that that is how they move into asking for money.
Asking for money
Thompson explained that once the fraudsters get the victim to react to the message, they will ask them for money, usually in 鈥淏itcoin or gift card鈥� form 鈥搘arning that is something the government would never do.
鈥淎nybody asking for money over the phone鈥imply hang up,鈥� he said.
Tips to fight back
The CRTC in 2008, created a 鈥渄o not call鈥� list where the public can ask for their phone number to be taken off telemarketer lists. Charities are exempted and their calls allowed through.
Consumers can file complaints to Canada's do not call list at or 1-866-580-DNCL (3625) or 1-888-DNCL-TTY (362-5889) for the hearing impaired.
, with $9 million in fines issued so far to callers that do not comply, Valladao said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important that people don鈥檛 disclose their personal information and hang-up,鈥� Valladao said.
鈥淐RTC has taken an aggressive approach to tackle this to try to identify these scammers.鈥�
Valladao recommended doing an online search for the number that called to see if it鈥檚 legitimate.
The CRTC said it was working with industry for solutions to unsolicited calls including three-level identification at network level before the call is connected to the recepient.
鈥淲e do take it seriously and are working to find solutions with Canadian and international partners,鈥� Valladao said.
One step is "universal call blocking," which will be applied at the network level to stop spoof numbers such as 000-000-0000.
on blocking or filtering unwanted calls.
Phone users can opt-in to call-filtering services, features that stop or allow calls from certain numbers or block them all together.
Apple customers with the latest iPhone update have a 鈥淪ilence Unknown Callers鈥� feature to send spam calls directly to voicemail,
The on how to stop unwanted robocalls and phone scams.
It urges users to beware of numbers showing as local, as it does not necessarily mean it鈥檚 a local caller.
Other advice includes speaking to the phone service provider about call blocking tools and researching apps that block unwanted calls.
