Beware of fake ATO emails
The internet has revolutionised our lives. Unfortunately, it's also opened up endless new opportunities for criminals to take advantage of us and one of the most popular scams involves criminals pretending to be from the Tax Office.
It's simple enough. You receive an email purporting to be from the tax office. It may look like a genuine document but in fact it's a fake ATO email. Typically, you'll be advised that you're owed a tax refund and you'll be encouraged to click on a link which will take you to an ATO-like website where you'll be asked to input bank account information, credit card details or other personal information to receive the refund. Sometimes the link to the website will be infected with a malicious virus.
Variations on the scam can involve being contacted by a fake call centre operative claiming to be a tax officer or receiving a fax-back notice.
The ATO never asks for personal information such as bank or credit card details and never advises about the availability of refunds by email, text or phone.
In fact, its use of any of these mediums is very limited and usually focuses on things like reminders to lodge tax returns or business activity statements and warnings that you've missed a payment date.
So if you open your inbox one day and see that those nice people from the Tax Office are offering you free money, don't fall for it. Instead, forward the entire email to [email protected] and let the experts investigate.
Mark Chapman of Taxpayers Australia
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