CRA Text Message Scam — How Canadians Can Spot the Fraud
A text message says you owe money to the Canada Revenue Agency or have a refund pending. It asks you to click a link or call a number. The CRA does not send text messages about refunds, debts, or account issues. This is a smishing scam that has become one of the top frauds in Canada.
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How This Scam Works
Critical Risk — The CRA Does Not Send Text Messages About Refunds or Debts
The Canada Revenue Agency does not send text messages about refunds, debts, or account issues. Any text claiming to be from the CRA is a scam.
Note: This scam typically arrives via text message, not email. If you received a suspicious email, forward it to check@scam.support for a free risk assessment. For text scams, report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre — see all reporting agencies.
A text message says you owe money to the CRA or have a refund pending. It asks you to click a link or call a number to resolve the issue. The CRA does not use text messages to communicate about refunds, debts, or account issues. These texts lead to fake CRA websites that steal your SIN, banking information, and personal data.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, CRA impersonation is consistently one of the top-reported fraud types in Canada. In 2023, Canadians reported losing over $569 million to fraud overall, with government impersonation scams being a significant contributor.
Red Flags
- Text claims to be from the CRA — the CRA does not text about tax matters
- Promises a refund or threatens penalties
- Includes a link to a website that is not canada.ca
- Asks for your SIN or banking information
- Creates urgency about a deadline or legal consequences
What You Should Do
What To Do
- Do not click any links or call any numbers in the text
- Check your CRA account at canada.ca/my-cra-account directly
- Report CRA-related phishing through the official CRA scam reporting page at canada.ca
- Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre
- Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM)
Sources
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) — Annual Reports
- CRA — Find out if it's really the CRA contacting you