“Imposters used the company’s confidential credentials to get unauthorized access into hundreds of Canadians’ personal CRA accounts, change direct deposit information, submit false returns and pocket more than $6 million in bogus refunds from the public purse, an investigation by CBC’s The Fifth Estate and Radio-Canada has found.”
The privacy commissioner told Parliament the CRA had 71 breaches last fiscal year. The CRA now admits 31,468 “material” breaches from March 2020 to December 2023, affecting 62,000 taxpayers, plus more than $190 million in bogus payments since 2020. One fake return listed an address on a non-existent Tomato Street. The money went out anyway.