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Canadian tax authorities will not seek payment of unpaid tax bills in bitcoin, the Toronto Police Service says in a public safety alert published Thursday.

The alert warns about an ongoing scam that brings together the tactic of impersonating Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) personnel with the hype surrounding bitcoin.

According to the alert:

  • the CRA will not ask for overdue tax payments to be made by Bitcoin;
  • the CRA will not send you QR codes to make such payment; and
  • the CRA will not send police officers to arrest individuals for immediate non-payment.

Police advise taxpayers to be cautious about providing information over the phone to purported tax officials, to verify credentials and to report suspected scams to police.