Canada Revenue Agency Locked Accounts as Preventative Measure

On February 16^th, 2021, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) sent an alert to more than 100,000 accounts, informing users that their email addresses had been removed from their accounts. This alert was not sent because of a hack and affected users’ CRA information has not been compromised. The alert was sent when CRA confirmed that the affected users’ information may have been involved in separate data breaches and the same login information may have been used as their CRA login. As a preventative measure, this information was removed from taxpayers’ CRA account. The CRA states that “there is no urgent need for taxpayers to contact us imminently unless they are an emergency benefit applicant and have active applications in our system.” Affected users will receive information in the mail about how to regain access online.

As with all peak CRA activity periods, a spike in scam communications including email, phone calls, text messages or letters tend to occur as the personal income tax deadline approaches.  We recommend all taxpayers understand how to differentiate between a legitimate CRA communication and a scam and to confirm any CRA communications are validated prior to providing any personal information. Please reach out to your Bateman MacKay Business Advisor for any assistance related to your CRA account.