How a Woodbridge, Ont., woman got a fraudster to admit his CRA threat was a scam

How do you scam a scammer? Just ask Dawn Belmonte.

Scams are a sore spot for the Woodbridge, Ont., woman. Her dad was taken in by an AOL scam that robbed him of "all kinds of money" more than a decadeago while he was undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia. He died in 2004.

Aftera scammer left Belmonte a voicemail Mondaynight,she decided to try something new.

She called themback, and surprisingly, shegot the fraudster to admit that it was all a scam on video.

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The scam might be familiar to you.Police across the countryhave issued several warnings about it over the past year.

Toronto police continue to receive reports of people being scammed by the calls. York Regional Police say they receive multiple reports daily of people receiving such calls.

It works like this: thefraudsterposesas aCanadaRevenue Agencyagent and tells theintended victim they owe money that must be repaid, and then tell that persontheRCMPwill arrest themif they don't pay up.

That's exactly what happened toBelmonte and here's how sheturned the tables.

First she was put on hold "with the music just like you get from government lines" and the occasional messagesaying thatthe call was important to them and to stay on the line.

"I made up the first name that came to my headMarisa SilveraI don't even know where it came from," Belmonte told CBC News.

The fraudsterthentold her about the money she owed and the supposed laws she had broken. She pretended to not have any money.

He was telling me I should pawn things and I should borrow money.-DawnBelmonte

"He was telling me I should pawn things and I should borrow money and askedif I had anything to sell because I was going to go to jail,"Belmontesaid.

Eventually she started to cry and told thescammerher husband was already in jail for tax evasion. She hung up the phone.

She thought that was it. Theyphoned back two minutes later.

"Theytold me because they felt sorry for me,I only had to pay a small portion and at that point I started to tape."

The nearly four-minute exchangeinvolvesBelmontepretending to be a desperate American mother whose husband is in jail.

She rebuffs all of his attempts to get money fromher with excuses like,"She didn't even have enough money to buy milk" and had to borrow five dollars from her neighbour.

Scammerconfesses

After trying to convince Belmonte to send money for more than three minutes, the scammer gives up.

In the video you can hear him say, "No need to cry, do not worry about anything because what I have told you is totally wrong, this is a scam and I was just trying to take money out of you, OK?"

"I was shocked," Belmontesaid about the confession. "I was already prepared to go on and on with this guy and when he came out and said he was a scammer I was like 'wow.'"

Unfortunately, when Belmontecalled York Regional Police on Mondaynight they told her there wasn't much they could do because these scammersare offshore and scramble their location. All they can do, police said,is raise awareness.

So Belmonte thought she could, too, and shared her video to Facebook.

"I honestly had no idea.I thought it would just get to my friends," said Belmonte. "I didn't think that it would be as big as it is. I'm flabbergasted."

In the end, she just wishes she could do more,because after what happened to her father, she said, "It's kind of near and dear to my heart.

"I wish I could get them arrested."

Scammers not quite done

It turns out the initial encounter with the scammerwasn't really the end.

CBC Torontoreporter Chris Glover sat down with Belmonte later Tuesday morning. While he was there, she gotanautomated call that went to voicemail,saying that it was her "final notice," that the CRA was filing a lawsuit against her.

CBC reporter witnesses another CRA scam call with Woodbridge woman

8 years ago

Duration 1:23

During a CBC News interview with Dawn Belmonte about how she got a CRA fraudster to admit he was a scammer, she got yet another scam call.

Belmonte phoned the fraudsters back, yet again using her Marisa Silvera persona. And this time,after the call was put on speaker, CBCrecorded the exchange.

The person on the other linequickly backed down and said it was a "wrong number" and to "just ignore this call" after she told them her name and that she'd been told not to pay the money.