PSA: Beware of "Get Your Annual Tax Refund" CRA Phishing Scam

I got an email Friday night, supposedly from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), telling me that I got a refund - great news right?

Well, no so fast.

Check out this email:

Here are a couple of tips that alerted me and that you can keep an eye out for:

The numbers don’t make sense:

• I owed (and already paid) CRA money this year.
• The CRA doesn’t ever send me email.
• The CRA and any other reputable bank or financial institution would never send my “Client number” in open text - I am not client 10293911.

But the real kicker was when I moused over the hyperlink that they wanted me to visit:

That certainly doesn’t look like the CRA! I bet once you get to this magical site, they ask you for your name, address, Social Insurance Number and telephone numbers. And in a few weeks, the creditors will start calling. For credit cards and loans that you did not open.

Save yourself the trouble!

Hopefully this helps you to avoid this scam and gives you some ammunition to keep yourself away from the baddies out there.