A new scam targeting recipients of the carbon tax rebate has Canada’s tax agency on alert.
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.
“The Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR) is a tax-free amount to help eligible individuals and families offset the cost of the federal pollution pricing. To receive your CCR payment see…“ one circulating text message campaign says.
It’s unclear when the phishing campaign started, but the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it has received at least 18 reports of phishing text messages and emails claiming to offer the Canada Carbon Rebate in recent weeks.
Numbers could be higher
It estimates the number of people affected is likely much higher given that only 5 to 10 per cent of victims report to the anti-fraud centre.
“It’s not surprising at all,” said Jeff Horncastle, the acting client and communications outreach officer for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. “Fraudsters always try to capitalize on any new benefits announced whether it’s by the provincial government or the federal government, whatever the case may be.”
So far this year the anti-fraud centre says it has received 10,735 reports of fraud. It estimates $123 million has been lost to fraud as of March 31, 2024.
“A lot of these messages are getting more sophisticated and legitimate looking,’ Horncastle warned. “They want to use your personal information to apply for credit cards, apply for bank accounts, cell phones, whatever they can. If you are not sure … reach out to the agency directly.”
Increase in phishing scams
The Canada Revenue Agency says it is seeing an increase in phishing scams and has been made aware of this recent campaign, posting a warning this week on its website. The agency warns some text messages include images taken from Government of Canada social media accounts to make their scam messages look more legitimate.
“Be even more vigilant because they are smart and they are getting smarter,” said CRA spokesperson Charles Drouin. “They are finding ways to get your trust.”
The tax agency says it will not use text messages or instant messages to start a conversation about your taxes or benefits. It also says the agency will never send or ask taxpayers to click on a link to get anything. If you are concerned a call, email or text message may be a scam, Drouin advises Canadians to call the CRA at 1-800-959-8281.
“We are aware of that and has taken action” Drouin said. “Once we are aware there is a scam going on we put the information on our website, as soon as possible to let people know what is most popular right now.”
In February, the federal government renamed the Climate Action Incentive Payment as the Canada Carbon Rebate in an effort to clarify the payment’s function and relationship to the carbon pricing system. Ottawa admitted the old name was too difficult to understand and was not easily connected to the carbon tax rebate.
“If we can speak the language that people speak because people say the words ‘carbon,’ they say the words, ‘rebate,’ right? And if we can speak that language that’s important, so people understand what’s going on here,” Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan said at the time.
Ottawa’s carbon tax system includes a corresponding rebate system that offers payments of anywhere from a low of $760 a year to a family of four in New Brunswick to a high of $1,800 for the same-sized family in Alberta. Taxpayers in the provinces where the federal backstop does not apply are not entitled to the payment.
Anyone who filed their taxes electronically by March 15 should have already received a payment. The CRA says those who filed after that date can expect the payment to be deposited in their account, or mailed out by cheque, 6-8 weeks after the tax return was assessed.
The Canada Revenue Agency says rebates are only given to Canadians through direct deposit or a cheque issued every three months. Drouin advises Canadians to sign up for direct deposit and subscribe to the online services, My Account.
The CRA recently launched an escape room campaign to make Canadians more aware of some of the most common phishing campaigns. That initiative will be in the Greater Toronto Area next week.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
