Victoria Police are warning the public of a new twist on an old scam.
Just after 11 a.m. this morning they received a call from a woman in Esquimalt who alleges a man turned up at her house claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency.
Victoria Police spokesperson Bowen Osoko said this was after the woman had received multiple phone calls for several days beforehand.
“She had received several days of CRA type telephone scam calls. Those calls where someone claims to be from the CRA and they’re quite aggressive, they claim someone owes money for taxes and they’ll face an immediate arrest,” Osoko said. “After several days of these calls and essentially ignoring them as often directed, the potential victim reported that a man showed up at her front door with handcuffs and threatened to take her into custody if she did not hand over money immediately.”
The suspect is described as a tall slim Caucasian man in his 30s, with short dark hair. He was wearing a blue suit and was last seen in the 800-block of Dunsmuir road.
Osoko said the CRA will never turn up at someone's house with handcuffs.
“Canada Revenue Agency will never show up at your door with handcuffs unannounced and tell them that they will arrest you if you don’t pay them cash right away,” Osoko said. “There are offences under tax act that people can be arrested for, but that’s usually a long process and they always work with local law enforcement.”
Osoko said if someone is at your house claiming to be the CRA phone 911 immediately. If you have had previous encounters with this man, or someone else claiming to be the CRA in person to phone Victoria Police at (250) 995-7654.