IN THE last 12 months, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has identified and taken action against nearly 600 websites impersonating the department’s online services.
These fake sites are designed to steal passwords, personal information and identity documents, such as passports and driver licences.
Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh said: “Right now, we’re seeing a lot of SMS and email scams leading to fake myGov sign-in pages – we’ve had more than 360 of these scams reported since April 2022.”
Scammers are always looking for new ways to convince unsuspecting taxpayers into divulging personal information, such as bank details, usernames and passwords.
“This year, the ATO has taken out the guess work and busted some scam myths to help people stay protected” said Mr Loh.
He said it was a myth that only older people fell for scams.
In the last three years, younger Australians have fallen victim to the most tax scams. In 2021, people aged 25 to 34 reported the most amount of money lost to tax scams, closely followed by those aged 18 to 24. In contrast, those aged 55 and above were among those who reported the least financial losses to us.
Another myth was that scams were easy to spot.
“We’ve seen some very convincing email and SMS scams that would trick even the most cautious people” Mr Loh said.
He said the ATO would never send an unsolicited message requesting personal information via a return email or SMS; send an email or SMS with a link to log in to its online services; or ask you to pay a fee in order to receive a refund.
A third myth was that scams only happened during tax time.
“While you may only focus on your tax when it’s time to lodge, scammers are constantly looking for ways to steal your personal details and financial information.“ Mr Loh said.
“We see different types of tax and super scams happening year-round.”