Ottawa, Ontario
Canada Revenue Agency
Tax-filing season may be over, but protecting Canadians' information remains a year round priority. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) continuously works to monitor and detect fraud throughout the year, including attempts to bypass our systems to access taxpayer accounts, and file fraudulent tax returns and benefit claims. The CRA is consistently a prime target for threat actors. Since 2020, there has been an increase in the number of identity theft cases and unauthorized use of taxpayer information by third parties. In an era of increasing digital threats, fraudsters constantly change their tactics, often exploiting personal information obtained through data or cybersecurity incidents.
The CRA continually improves its internal processes and systems to detect fraud and protect taxpayers' information. With a multi-layered and adaptable security framework, the CRA has been successful in protecting against past fraudulent attempts by threat actors to gain access to taxpayers' and business' accounts. Additionally, over the past year, the CRA has successfully worked with partners to monitor and take down fraudulent websites attempting to impersonate the Agency for malicious purposes.
With the recent increase in fraud globally, it's important that taxpayers know how to recognize a scam and what precautions to take to make sure their online information is protected, such as:
- Regularly monitoring CRA accounts for suspicious activity, including unsolicited changes to their address or banking information
- Changing passwords regularly, especially if aware of an external breach involving their credentials
- Using a strong password that is unique to their CRA account
- Being cautious about sites mimicking the CRA, by making sure web content and online portals are accessed directly through Canada.ca
