Tony Short says he recently received an email saying the Canada Revenue Agency owed him an overpayment of $274. But the email was a scam. (CBC)

A Fredericton man is warning taxpayers about a scam involving emails purporting to be from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Tony Short says he recently received an email saying the agency owed him an overpayment of $274.

The message told him to click on a link to provide personal and banking details so the money could be deposited in his account.

Short says at first glance the email looked official, but he quickly realized it wasn't.

"The revenue agency, first of all, should already have my bank information because we've paid over the years by cheque," he said.

"And secondly, if there's a refund due to me, they could have simply sent me a cheque in the mail."

Short says a closer look at the message showed basic spelling errors that would not be found in an official government email.

The scam email said he was eligible to receive a tax refund of $274, that he had to submit a tax refund request, and to allow nine to 12 business days for the request to be processed, he said.

The Canada Revenue Agency website does not currently list any alerts for 2013.

But there have been alerts issued in recent years about other, similar scams.