Do not answer this phone call: Australians are targeted by elaborate new tax office scam involving a chilling voicemail
Fraudsters have been targeting Australians with a new tax office scam involving fake phone messages.
The elaborate scam is delivered via phone messages and SMS and urges people to hand over their credit card details - threatening innocent victims with arrest if they don't comply.
'Attention: this call is from the legal department of Services Australia,' the message says.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher confirmed the rort is real and the technology used to dupe taxpayers is becoming increasingly sophisticated
'Your Tax File Identification Number has been suspended and we have filed a case under your name.
'So, before this matter goes to Federal Court and you could get arrested kindly press 1. I repeat press 1 to know about your legal case.'
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher confirmed the rort is real and the technology used to dupe taxpayers is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
'A lot of scammers have been using so-called spoofing or overstamping of the number from which the call appears to originate,' he said, according to news.com.au.
A spokesperson from The Australian Tax Office said the body is concerned about the increasing number of people paying fake tax debt scammers
THE ATO WILL NEVER:
- Send you an email or text message asking you to send us your information by email or text message.
- Send you an email or text message with a link to log into online services.
- Send a pre-recorded message saying the police are coming to arrest you or demanding urgent payment of money.
- Ask for payment by bank transfers to:
A bank that is not the Reserve Bank of Australia
Ooverseas wire transfers;
iTunes or Google Play cards;
Cardless cash transfers;
Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
Source: ATO
'So Australians will get a phone call. It will look like it’s coming from a well recognised number that’s used by the Australian Tax Office or another well known organisation that advertises inbound numbers.'
He explained the cons are large-scale operations and detectives use complex software to find out where the calls come from.
A spokesperson from The Australian Tax Office said the body is concerned about the increasing number of people paying fake tax debt scammers.
'Scammers pretending to be from the ATO are contacting members of the community, telling them that they have a tax debt and that if they don't pay it straight away they will be arrested,' they said.
'These scammers will often request payment through unusual methods, such as cryptocurrency, pre-paid credit cards or gift cards, and will try to keep people on the line until they have paid.'
They urged anyone who received a phone call, text message or voicemail demanding money not to send a payment or provide personal information.
'We will never threaten you with immediate arrest or demand payment through unusual means.'
Australians were scammed out of more than $11million in May this year thanks to a plague of fake money-making schemes.
Online phishing scams received the most reports in May, with households losing $185,000 combined, up 190 per cent from April.