India-origin man fights 'telephone scam' in Canada

Winnipeg: Residents of Winnipeg City of Canada, especially of Indian-origin, have been faced with a peculiar scam in which fraud calls are made to dupe immigrants citing "overdue taxes" with the threat of deportation.

Purna Satpathy, an Indo-Canadian living in Winnipeg, the capital of the Canadian province of Manitoba, has embarked on a mission to reach out to the maximum number of people in the city to prevent them falling prey to fraudulent phone calls, the Metro Winnipeg reported Friday.

According to the newspaper, Satpathy was alarmed to know about the scam from his friend who got a call from a person claiming to be a representative of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The man told her to pay C$4,000($3568.56) in "overdue taxes" or else she and her son would be deported.

Warning of the alleged scam, termed as "telephone scam", Purna Satpathy said: "It is a disaster, it was quite shocking."

Satpathy, who immigrated to Canada seven years ago, said the scamsters had prior knowledge of his friend's details at home in India.

The man on the phone abused her and threatened her with dire consequences if she hung up or failed to pay them the money.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Police said they were aware of several different types of scams affecting citizens, including the emergency or grandparent scam, during which the caller pretends to be a family member in need of cash.

The police said that they had March 12 issued an advisory to curb such fraudulent practices.

In its advisory, the police instructed people to make a note of the number and at the end of the call activate a trace by using *57 on the land line, then contact police.

"Be aware and do not panic, you are in Canada, you are not in any developing country," Satpathy added.

He urged people not to be intimidated by the scamsters as the CRA would give people a chance to defend themselves against accusations.

The CRA is the federal agency that administers tax laws for the Canadian government.a