Phishing and identity theft - Fraudulent government emails and websites

Date: 11 March 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this information note is to raise awareness of a risk of identify theft through the use of fraudulent Government of Canada websites.

Guidance

Government of Canada does not contact individuals or businesses by email or telephone to request or confirm personal/financial information.
                       
Public Safety Canada advises Canadians to be cautious when sharing personal information such as credit card information, bank account numbers, Social Insurance Numbers, or passwords. Public Safety Canada further advises:

• Do not provide personal information over the phone, through the mail or online unless you initiated the contact and know, or can verify, that you are dealing with the correct person; and
• Do not click on links sent in unsolicited emails.

Assessment

Public Safety Canada’s Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre (CCIRC) is aware of a recent series of emails in circulation that appear to originate from the Canada Revenue Agency and announces to recipients that a tax refund is available. These emails do not originate from the Canada Revenue Agency; the link contained within these emails directs the users to a fraudulent Government of Canada website.

Phishing is a general term for the creation and use by criminals of emails and websites – designed to look like they come from well-known, legitimate and trusted businesses, financial institutions and government agencies – in an attempt to gather personal, financial and sensitive information such as passwords, credit card details or government identification numbers. If the recipient follows the link provided and connects with the fraudulent website, any information entered into the data fields (account #, PIN, contact information, social insurance number etc.) could be recorded, collected and used for fraudulent purposes.

Below is an example of  a current phishing email:

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If recipients click on the link, they will be connected to the following fraudulent website:

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Although this website looks legitimate, it is actually a fraudulent site set up to collect personal and government identification information.

For general information, please contact Public Safety Canada's Public Affairs division at:

Telephone: 613-944-4875 or 1-800-830-3118
Fax: 613-998-9589
E-mail: communications@ps-sp.gc.ca