In the midst of tax time and taxpayers looking to lodge their returns, the ATO has warned of a sharp rise in the number of scammers attempting to impersonate the agency.
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While scams tend to rise generally this time of year, the ATO has seen an alarming 300 per cent increase in scams compared to the same time last year.
Scammers impersonate the ATO, seeking to harvest personal information, with an eye to identity theft and further fraud.
Aaron Bugal, field chief information security officer for APJ at Sophos, said the time of year and a lack of understanding about how the ATO communicates can lead to Australians falling victim to tax scams.
“With added pressure of tax season and people unaware that the ATO’s main form of communication is through their myGov inbox rather than direct emails or phone calls, it’s understandable that individuals are often caught off guard,” Bugal said.
“Identifying these scams is becoming increasingly tough. Scammers are now leveraging AI to duplicate official ATO emails with alarming accuracy. It’s not just the less tech-savvy who are at risk; even vigilant users can be misled. Just one click can result in financial loss, identity theft, and repeated fraud attempts.”
Bugal said the best response to any surprise message from the ATO was to think clearly about where the message was coming from.
“If you get a surprise message about your tax or finances, pause. Don’t click links or call numbers in the message, go directly to myGov or the official ATO website to check,” Bugal said.
“In today’s environment, a moment of caution can save you from serious trouble.”
As the ATO says, “we may send you an SMS or email asking you to contact us, but we’ll NEVER send an unsolicited message with a link asking you to return personal information or log into our online services”.
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