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ATO Text Tax Refund Scam

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ATO Text Tax Refund Scam

A scam has arisen texting people asking them to provide personal information to receive a tax refund.

If you click on the like it will take you to a fake ‘Tax Refund’ form allows the scam artist to steal your personal information.

The text has been expertly created to make it appear to be coming from your legitimate ATO message feed. Remember to be cautious when clicking links or opening attachments via SMS or email as you never know who it is really coming from.

This is an example of what the text may say:

The ATO doesn’t have an online ‘Tax Refund’ form and will never send you an SMS or email asking for you to input personal information via a link or attachment.

Ensure that you conduct all your tax affairs on a genuine myGov account and ensure that you update your sign-in options via my.gov.au so you have a second layer of protection through and SMS code being sent to you upon sign-in.

The ATO does not have an online ‘Tax Refund’ form and we will never send an email or SMS asking you to access online services via a hyperlink.

Other more common scams come as pre-recorded calls (robocalls) that impersonate the ATO. They usually are threatening immediate arrest for unpaid tax debt. If you receive any threatening calls of this nature claiming to be from the ATO, hang up and don’t call them back.

What Do I Need To Look Out For

Signs to look out for that could make a call suspicious:

  • Abusive or threating
  • Immediate payment
  • Contact by email, text or social media,
  • Pre-recorded calls
  • Too good to be true

How Do I Know If I Have A Secure System in Place?

Call us on 1800 10 3000 or email [email protected] for your FREE IT assessment to see how secure your businesses systems are or feel free to speak with our experts with any questions or concerns you may have.

Reference

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