What is the "Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Benefit Statement" email scam

What kind of email is "Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Benefit Statement"?

We have examined this email and determined that it is a phishing scam. It impersonates the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and falsely claims that an official benefit statement is ready for download. The real goal is to trick recipients into surrendering their email login credentials on a fraudulent website. This email should be ignored.

More about the "Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Benefit Statement" email

This email is crafted to resemble an official communication from the Canada Revenue Agency. It uses a bilingual format - presenting text in both English and French - to mirror the style of real Canadian government correspondence. The message claims that the recipient's 2025-2026 CRA Benefit Statement is now available, citing programs such as the Canada Child Benefit, GST/HST Credit, and Climate Action Incentive.

Clicking the "Review Your Statement" button does not lead to any official CRA or government portal. Instead, it redirects to a phishing site hosted at fls-a2500f47-8098-404b-8865-9f7f80d59034.laravel[.]cloud. That page displays a fake Webmail login form asking for an email address and password - not a CRA portal of any kind.

The form appears to pre-fill the recipient's email address, which lends it a deceptive sense of legitimacy. Anything typed into that form is collected by the scammers, not submitted to any real email provider.

A hijacked email account gives cybercriminals broad access. They can use it to take over linked online accounts, send phishing emails to the victim's contacts, or gather enough personal data to commit identity theft and financial fraud.

The Canada Revenue Agency is a legitimate federal institution and has no association with this scam. Real CRA correspondence does not direct taxpayers to third-party webmail login pages.

Email scams in general

In summary, the "Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Benefit Statement" email is a phishing scam that exploits the name of a real government agency to steal email credentials. Recipients should delete the message and avoid clicking any links. Scams of this kind are sometimes also used to distribute malware.

More examples of similar scam emails are Email Migration Notice, Complete The Required Mailbox Update, and Assistance In Claiming The Money.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often spread malware by attaching harmful files to email messages. These can include executable programs, compressed archives, PDF documents, Microsoft Office files, or scripts. Opening them - or enabling malicious macro commands within document-type files - can trigger a malware download or installation.

Emails can also carry links to malicious websites. Some of these sites initiate downloads automatically once visited; others prompt the user to manually run a downloaded file. In most cases, some form of interaction from the user is required before a system becomes compromised.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Treat all unsolicited emails with caution, especially those urging you to follow a link or open an attachment. This applies even when a message appears to come from a trusted brand, a bank, or a government agency. When in doubt, navigate directly to the organization's official website rather than clicking anything in the email.

Download software only from official sources and verified app stores. Avoid pirated programs, key generators, and unverified third-party download platforms - these are a common vehicle for hidden malware. Keeping the operating system and all installed applications up to date also helps close off security weaknesses that attackers exploit.

Use a reputable antivirus or security suite and keep it current. Do not grant notification permissions to unfamiliar websites. If you have already clicked a suspicious link or opened an unexpected attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to detect and remove any malware that may have been installed.

Text presented in the "Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Benefit Statement" email letter:

Subject: ******** Your Document Is Ready.

Government of Canada
Canada Revenue Agency

Dear ********,

Your 2025-2026 CRA Benefit Statement is now available. This document covers your entitlements for the Canada Child Benefit, GST/HST Credit, and Climate Action Incentive.

Please download the file below and keep a copy for your records.
[Review Your Statement]

Sincerely,

Canada Revenue Agency
Government of Canada

Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy

Official communication from the Canada Revenue Agency. Do not reply directly to this email.

A fake Webmail login page used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Benefit Statement phishing scam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using  Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

These messages are sent out in large batches and are not personally targeted. Cybercriminals collect email addresses through data breaches, fake websites, and similar methods - many people receive the same email simultaneously.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

If you entered your email password on the linked site, change it right away. Also update the passwords of any other accounts where the same credentials were reused.

If you disclosed additional sensitive details - such as payment card numbers or government identification - contact the relevant financial institutions or authorities as soon as possible.

I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?

Executable files can compromise a system the moment they are launched. Document formats such as PDFs or Office files carry less immediate risk on their own, though they can still lead to infection if the user enables macros or runs an embedded component. The outcome depends on the file type and how it was opened.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No. Reading or viewing an email is harmless on its own. A computer is only at risk when a user actively engages with the email's content - by clicking a link, opening an attachment, or running a downloaded file.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and remove a wide range of malware threats. More sophisticated infections may sometimes evade detection, so running a complete system scan is recommended to catch anything that may be hiding deeper in the system.