Key Points
- Scammers are turning to increasingly sophisticated methods to obtain Australians’ personal details at tax time.
- Phone calls, text messages and emails from people purporting to be from the tax office are frequently used.
- The Australian Tax Office says there are several things to keep in mind when unsure if a message is legitimate.
And while nine in 10 Australians surveyed said they felt confident they could spot a scam SMS or email, when tested with multiple tax phishing scams almost one in three (31 per cent) failed to spot one or more.
What is phishing?
Samantha Yorke, from the Australian Communications and Media Authority, said scammers will often seek to mimic correspondence from reputable sources, such as your bank or government bodies like myGov and the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
They might include a hyperlink to a fake website that looks like the real version and can also ask you to enter your card details or login information.
“The major red flag for this type of scam is the link, which differs considerably from the official myGov and ATO website addresses,” said James Roberts, Commonwealth Bank’s general manager of group fraud.
How to spot a scam at tax time
Firstly, the ATO will never send an unsolicited email or SMS that contains a link or QR code to log in to their online services or myGov. You should make sure to go directly to online services or myGov through your own browser.
“And we’ll never threaten people with immediate arrest or demand that they stay on the phone until they’ve made a payment.”
Phone calls from the ATO will come up on your phone as ‘no caller ID’, and won’t show a number. Source: Getty / Rafael Abdrakhmanov/iStockphoto
Catriona Lowe, acting chairwoman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, says it’s important to trust your instincts in situations that don’t feel quite right.
“Before you click on that link or make that transfer, think: ‘Do I really know who I’m dealing with?’ Independently find the website and check that what sounds like a good opportunity is in fact legitimate.”
Before you click on that link or make that transfer, think: ‘Do I really know who I’m dealing with?’
Catriona Lowe, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Legitimate organisations will never pressure you to hand over details on the spot — so it’s important not to rush into anything, and if things seem suspicious, contact the organisation on a verified phone number or via their official website or app.
What to do if you think you’ve fallen for a scam
Reporting scams is also important as it helps to keep banks and anti-scam organisations aware of new methods scammers are using. The National Anti-Scam Centre’s latest Targeting Scams report revealed Australians lost $2.74 billion to scams in 2023 and reported over 601,000 different scams to key monitoring organisations.
“The more that we talk about scams as a society, we kind of de-stigmatise them.”