With over 800,000 of us falling victim to a personal fraud (scam) each year3, Consumer Fraud Awareness Week (7-13 March) provides a timely reminder for taxpayers to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.
Consumer Fraud Awareness Week is a cross-agency initiative led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The purpose of the week is to highlight the risks of consumer fraud and encourage the community to take steps to protect themselves from this kind of deceptive activity.
Fraudsters commonly imitate the ATO to try and trick innocent taxpayers to hand over money, tax file numbers (TFNs) and other identity details.
The personal impact on the victim of a scam can be distressing, and it can take years to fix.
Each month the ATO receives hundreds of reports from taxpayers who have been on the receiving end of a tax scam.
What is a scam?
A scam is a fraudulent invitation, request, notification or offer designed to obtain someone's personal information or money, or otherwise obtain a financial benefit by deceptive means.
'Email phishing scams are common, but with improvements in email filtering software and increased levels of awareness in the community about this type of scam, fraudsters are changing tack,' Commissioner of Taxation Michael D'Ascenzo said.
'For example, we're getting reports of fraudsters imitating a tax officer and 'cold calling' taxpayers in an attempt to convince the taxpayer to hand over money or identity details.'
TFN theft is a serious concern for the ATO, and is something the ATO is always alert to.
'Our sophisticated systems use known patterns and characteristics to detect and stop a fraudulent refund from issuing, but taxpayers also need to play their part in preventing fraud by staying one step ahead of scammers,' Mr D'Ascenzo said.
Taxpayers can take simple steps, such as ensuring they provide their TFN only to authorised parties who have a legitimate reason to access this information.
As part of our involvement in Consumer Fraud Awareness Week in March, we'll be reminding taxpayers to protect their TFNs as a key part of their identities.
Scam examples:
Advance fee fraud
Michael was on a lunch break when his mobile rang. When the caller said he was from the ATO he lost his appetite for a moment. But this quickly changed when he found out he was eligible for a bonus refund payment of $3,000 for good compliance. A new 'taxpayer bonus', or so he was told.
To facilitate the refund all he had to do was pay a 'release fee' of $150 to a designated account within the next couple of business days. Not wanting to miss out, he quickly wired the money to the account in India and waited patiently for his bonus cheque to turn up in the mail.
Of course the 'bonus' never arrived and Michael lost his money.
For more information, visit www.ato.gov.au/identitycrime
To report a scam, phone 1800 060 062 or visit www.ato.gov.au/reportevasion and www.scamwatch.gov.au
TFN theft
Alicia, a university student, was looking for a part-time job. Searching online, she found an advertisement for a job as a casual cleaner, with great pay and working hours that suited her study timetable. To apply, all she had to do was send off an email with her resume, bank details, a scanned copy of her driver's licence, and a scanned ATO notice of assessment indicating her TFN and wait for the call.
What went wrong?
The job ad was fake. It was placed by a syndicate of identity criminals based overseas. The scammers used Alicia's identity to lodge a false tax return and claim a refund in her name.
ATO systems detected the false return and stopped the refund from issuing. With the help of the ATO, Alicia was able to get a new TFN and fix the problems associated with the false tax return, but the inconvenience was something she could have done without in her final year of study.
Last Modified: Friday, 18 January 2013