The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has warned residents about a new scammer method that targets taxpayers.
The method involves scammers initiating a three-way telephone call between the victim, caller and another person impersonating the victim’s tax agent.
ATO assistant commissioner Kath Anderson said with many residents completing their tax return, awareness of the scam is important.
“One recent example had a taxpayer unfortunately thinking the telephone conversation was legitimate, and ended up withdrawing thousands of dollars in cash and depositing it into a Bitcoin ATM, fearing the police had a warrant out for his arrest.
“We are at the half-way point of tax time, and we’ve seen an increase in reports in recent months.
“In September we typically see these high volumes continue, so we are warning the community to be on the lookout for things that don’t look or feel quite right.
“During July and August the ATO received over 7000 scam reports to our dedicated phone line, with close to $190,000 being paid to scammers and over 1600 people handed over their personal or financial information.
“While we see new scams pop up from time to time, the most common scam is still the ‘fake tax debt’ phone scam, though the ‘fake refund’ and ‘refund for a fee’ scams are on the rise,” Ms Anderson said.
According to ATO intelligence reports, there has been an increase in reports of emails and text message phishing for personal and financial information.
This resulted in the ATO taking disruptive action on more than 90 fake ATO web pages.
“Australians are generally pretty good at identifying scams but there has been a distinct increase in the level of scam sophistication,” Ms Anderson said.
“The cloned web addresses linked to scam emails are sometimes difficult to distinguish from ato.gov.au and the compromise of your personal information via this method may remain undetected with impacts only realised many months later.”
Ms Anderson said knowing how scammers operate is key to keeping taxpayers’ information safe.
“Scammers aren’t just looking at getting a quick fix through an upfront payment. They are increasingly looking to get your personal information, and once they gain this data they can sell it or use it to impersonate you for their own financial gain,” Ms Anderson said.
The promise of a refund can be alluring but Ms Anderson said the costs of falling for these scams can be high.
“One taxpayer received an email which appeared to be from the ATO. The email requested her to click a link to download her BAS for lodgement.
“Clicking the link ran malicious software which gave the scammer access to all data on her computer.
“She later found that her credit rating had been severely impacted as the scammers racked up large unpaid debts in her and her business’ name,” Ms Anderson said.
Taxpayers should be wary of any phone call, text message, email or letter about a tax refund or debt.
In September we typically see these high volumes continue, so we are warning the community to be on the lookout for things that don’t look or feel quite right.
- Kath Anderson, ATO assistant commissioner
While the ATO regularly phones taxpayers, sends emails and send text messages each week, there are some tell-tale signs that it isn’t the ATO.
The ATO will not:
- Use aggressive or rude behaviour, or threaten you with immediate arrest, jail or deportation.
- Request payment of a debt via iTunes, pre-paid visa cards, cryptocurrency (for example bitcoin ATM) or direct credit to a bank account with a BSB that isn’t either 092-009 or 093-003.
- Request a fee in order to release a refund owed to you.
- Email or SMS you asking you to click on a link to provide login, personal or financial information, or to download a file or open an attachment.
“Taxpayers can play their part in stopping scammers by reporting them to our scam line. Your reports help us to get an accurate picture in what is happening with the current scams, which ultimately helps the Australian community,” Ms Anderson said.
Scams can be reported to the ATO by calling 1800 008 540.
