Fraudsters are claiming to be Service Canada over email in an effort to get people to send them money, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
In a warning issued to the public Tuesday, the centre says it's a "new variation of extortion."
The letter contains a fake case number, followed by this message: “We are sorry to inform you about your Social Insurance Number(SIN) will be terminated with in 24hours (sic).
"We take zero-tolerance approach to any violations of our Terms and Conditions which you have violated by using a false identity."
The Canadian Ant-Fraud Centre says the recipient of the letter is then asked to call a number with "questions or concerns."
"Fraudsters will ask you for your SIN and threaten that if you don't send funds immediately, you'll be arrested. This is a scam!" staff say in a tweet.
The letter has numerous typos in it, which is a giveaway that it's not coming from Service Canada.
Since Jan. 31, there have been more than 3,900 victims of fraud and $43,600,000 lost to fraud in Canada.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has recovered $2,400,000 as of Oct. 31, 2022.
You can protect yourself from scams and fraud by not giving out personal information like your name, address, birth date, SIN or banking information from unsolicited calls.
"Call the company or agency in question directly, if you receive a text message or email. Make sure you research their contact information and don't use the information provided in the first message,” states the centre.
Fraudsters will often use urgency, emotional manipulation and threats to trick people.
You can learn more about how to protect yourself at the Government of Canada website.
