David Screech, the mayor of View Royal in BC, became the victim of identity theft after malicious actors not only managed to access the details of Screech’s Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) account, but also attempted to claim on federal financial benefits.
Screech discovered the fraud after he received an email from the CRA, informing him that his emails would no longer be used for correspondence relating to his CRA account. Upon investigating his CRA account, the mayor found that his deposit information had been changed to a bank in Ontario and that his email registered under the CRA had been changed – all without his consent and knowledge.
He also found that those responsible for the changes had also applied for $4,000 in Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) payments, and were likely to pocket the money through the newly registered bank account.
“It feels very personal when someone actually gets into your tax account and applies for CERB benefits under your name,” Screech told the Times Colonist. “If I hadn’t gotten the email saying ‘we will no longer use this email address as requested by you’ … that’s the only inkling I had.”
The mayor said that the CRA has been cooperative and understanding of his plight. The revenue agency also halted the CERB payment, froze Screech’s account, and flagged his social insurance number. CRA will work with the mayor to address the identity theft issue.
Screech noted that no-one within CRA could explain how the criminals managed to access his tax account, especially since, even with a username and password, the malicious actors still have to answer security questions.
“[CRA] couldn’t quite explain how they had answered those questions,” he said. “It’s a reminder to be vigilant and change login details from time to time.”
