MONEY IN YOUR POCKET
With all due respect to that wonderful pot roast-like substitute for good food that soldiers in the field have endured since the First World War, spam on your computer is not a good thing.
It generally relates to download dumps of data and unsolicited advertising that clog your e-mail in-basket with all sorts of stuff that passes itself off as useful information.
Although the word “fishing” conjures up pleasant thoughts as well, the word phishing as it relates to your computer does not. In fact, in some instances it can be downright dangerous.
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Phishing, like its original namesake, means hoping to catch thebig one,but in this case, you are the big one. Phishers are hoping to get you to reveal private and sensitive information.
In the mildest form, they are trying to track your purchasing habits or interests in an attempt to match you up with sellers or retailers to accelerate your purchasing plans ahead of the time you had intended. In its most dangerous form, phishing tries to steal your identity and perhaps access your credit, bank funds on deposit, or even your assets, such as your house.
In virtually every province, successful phishing programs and their perpetrators have stolen the deeds of houses from the rightful owners, remortgaged the properties through banks and then miraculously disappeared with the funds.
Phishers use a number of lures and baits, the most common one being passing themselves off as trusted or feared reputable sources. The names of banks, other financial institutions, the police, hospitals, and government agencies are used with impunity as fronts to get you to reveal your most private and supposedly secure financial information.
Their approach on supposed behalf of these institutions is sophisticated – it gives you the impression you are being contacted by the real McCoys.
You can also add Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to the list of names being fraudulently used in phishing scams.
One scam e-mail making the rounds arrives in your inbox with a subject line that reads, “You are being investigated for possible tax evasion fraud.”
The e-mail claims that CRA, or more specifically, the Informant Leads Program of CRA, has received a complaint containing evidence that either you or people you are associated with are involved in tax evasion.
The e-mail advises you to contact the linked e-mail address to resolve the matter. As you do so, however, you will be asked to validate your identity by giving valuable private information.
Invariably, the scammers will ask you for your social insurance, credit card, bank account and passport numbers.
Once they have this information, the phishers can drive the proverbial Brinks truck through your financial assets and steal your identity. It can take you years and thousands of dollars to unravel and fix the damage.
In a recent tax alert release, CRA is warning people to maintain a healthy skepticism about the e-mails they receive and what appears to be demands for unusual and sensitive personal information.
CRA’s alert about fraudulent communications including e-mail scams can be found on the website www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ntcs/bwr-eng.html
.
They also assure taxpayers that their policy is not to request personal information of any kind by e-mail.
Larry Roche is a tax analyst with Farm Business Consultants Inc. Contact: fbc@fbc.ca
or 800-860-7011.
Once they have this information, the phishers can drive the proverbial Brinks truck through your financial assets and steal your identity. It can take you years and thousands of dollars
