ATO tax scam warning: How to prevent getting tricket
Urgent Warning About Vicious New ATO Scam That Is Very Hard To Detect: Here’s How To Avoid Being Tricked
- Scamwatch warns Aussies about tax time ATO scam
- Scam is a text message with a fake ATO refund link
Australians have been warned to be on high alert for a devious scam text message as tax time approaches.
Posing as the Australian Tax Office (ATO), the scam message reads, “You have an important message from the ATO. Go to https://myatorefunds.life/ret/secure to view..’
The text contains a hyperlink of what appears to be a link to an “ATO Refunds” site, but it is in fact a fake website run by scammers.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission scamwatch warns Aussies to be vigilant.
“The ATO will never send you a link via SMS to log into online services,” Scamwatch said.
Aussies are warned to be on the lookout for a tax time ATO scam in which a scammer impersonates the governing body and attempts to get the person to open a fake ATO link which is then used to steal personal information (pictured)
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission scamwatch said the ATO will never send login links via SMS and urges anyone who receives such a link not to act on it (stock image)
Last year, the ATO warned of similar scams that often claimed you owed a refund and urged you to click a link to fill out a form to release the payment.
If the person has completed the form, the personal information entered, including credit card information, will be stolen.
Scammers have been falsifying ATO communications to mislead the public for several years.
Examples of scams include: untrustworthy tax refund text messages, fake tax return emails, phone and email scams related to pensions, and bullying calls threatening legal action if a tax debt is not paid immediately.
The ATO urges anyone who believes they have received a fake ATO phone call, text, voicemail or email not to respond.
“If you ever doubt it’s really the ATO, don’t respond. Call us on 1800 008 540 to check,” the ATO said.