You sometimes hear this in the news around tax time, fraudsters saying they represent the CRA/IRS calling you around tax time. But one other scam that’s been cropping up is one where fraudsters call stating that your Social Insurance Numbers (SINs) have been compromised. It’s then followed by an unusual request for you to tell the person to confirm your SIN to verify if it is and to get a new one.

I say unusual because if the caller said your SIN is supposedly “compromised” they should already know your SIN number anyway.

Not only that but the fraudsters often disguise themselves as government departments which in theory should know your SIN anyway depending on the department.

Anyway despite seeming legitimate, they definitely aren’t as confirmed by anti-fraud centers. Not only that, but these types of scams are nothing new in this day and age. Fraudsters have been getting craftier every year and some of the more recent scams have stemmed from fraudsters posing as government officials.

In the case of the most recent scam, this one crops up around times where there have been highly publicized privacy breaches. In most instances, the scammer will even mention that recent data breach.

But naturally, we can work around these scams and there are some tips to keep in mind too.

• First of all we can always use logic. Like I said above, if the caller is claiming to work for the government, they should have a lot of your personal information right there. Similarly if they mention a highly publicized breach, unless it’s an actual government agency, chances are your SIN is not even related to it.