BEWARE OF FRAUD AND TAX SCAMS

BEWARE OF FRAUD AND TAX SCAMS

Scam emails, faxes, SMS and phone calls can look or sound very convincing. You can generally tell they’re not genuine because they offer you an unexpected refund or grant and ask you to provide personal information, credit card information or money.

THE ATO will never email you asking for personal or credit card details, and you should never provide this information.

Here are some examples to help you recognise scams when you encounter them:

Email scams

These emails claim to come from the ATO and usually offer a tax refund. Generally, they link to a bogus ATO website asking for personal and credit card details. These emails can differ in their appearance and level of sophistication, but will generally state that you are eligible for a refund and instruct you to click on a link to submit a form to receive it.

One version of this scam contains an attachment infected with a virus. If you receive an email like this, do not open the attachment.

Under no circumstances should you give personal information, including credit card or banking details. Anyone who has received a suspicious phone call or email should contact us immediately.

If you receive an email asking for personal information, report it to us.

Mobile phone scams

Mobile phone scams differ in appearance and level of sophistication but will generally claim that you are eligible for a refund and instruct you to click on a link to submit a form to receive it.

Generally, they link to a bogus ATO website asking for personal information (including your mobile phone number) and credit card details.

By clicking the link or filling in the details you will potentially expose yourself to identity theft.

Scams that come to you on your mobile can be difficult to recognise. You should be wary of unsolicited texts or messages claiming to be from the ATO.

Occasionally we may send you an SMS – however, we will never message you asking for personal or credit card details.

If in doubt about the authenticity of a call that you receive from the ATO, you can call us on phone us 1800 008 540.

Under no circumstances should you provide personal information, such as credit card or banking details.

If you receive any messages like the examples shown below, you should delete them immediately. If you provided your personal details, you should contact us and your financial institution immediately.

Phone scams

From time to time we may contact you by phone, but you should be wary of unsolicited phone calls claiming to be from the ATO and offering you a tax refund. Increasingly, we are seeing these scams using names and addresses that have some correlation to actual ATO officers and buildings. We advise taxpayers to be vigilant when receiving phone calls of this nature.

If in doubt about the authenticity of a call that you receive from the ATO, you can call us on phone us 1800 008 540.

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