As tax season gets underway, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) is advising accountants to warn their clients about possible scammers. The ATO has noticed an uptick in scammers seeking to impersonate the authority on social media platforms, where some taxpayers go to find assistance for their tax and super concerns. 19,843 reports of scams have already been logged for the 2022 to 2023 financial year.
According to the ATO, among the warning signs that you may be dealing with scammers includes being sent links and when unsuspecting people click through, it leads to fake online portals by which their myGov login credentials are then stolen. The tax authority has confirmed that they never send links for taxpayers to click on and login in to access online services. Taxpayers are being asked to directly access ATO services via ato.gov.au, my.gov.au, or use the ATO app.
Taxpayers are also being warned to be wary of any phone calls allegedly coming from the ATO. Scammers will typically engage targeted individuals in conversation in an attempt to extract personal information. Some will even go so far as to threaten people with immediate arrests and demand payment.
The ATO notes on its website that they never threaten taxpayers with immediate arrest nor demand payment to be done while holding the line. They also do not cancel tax file numbers (TFNs) nor prevent taxpayers from consulting with their trusted tax agent or adviser. If you suspect you are not talking to the ATO, hang up immediately. Taxpayers are being advised to instead call the ATO on 1800 008 540 to verify if it is indeed the authority that is seeking to engage with them.
Assistant Commissioner, Trent Jakubowski, has said that while the number of people falling victim to scammers is low, the large amounts being lost per individual is worrying. The ATO notes that in some cases, rather than quote a specific figure, the scammers will instead demand that a victim transfer every last dollar from their account. This is under the ruse that by transferring the funds, the ATO is simply helping the person avoid being victimised by other fraudsters
Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, is also urging taxpayers to be vigilant to the sinister scammers that were targeting people at tax time. The government appears to have recognised the threat posed by scammers and allocated $86.5 million in the budget announced last month to help in tackling scams and online fraud.
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