A new email scam claiming to be from the Australian Taxation Office is currently circulating.
This latest scam has a bogus ATO form attached to it, which asks for personal details including credit card details and ATM card PIN numbers. The email asks for the form to be completed, printed, and sent in to a genuine ATO address.
The email states that 'after a recalculation of your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are entitled to receive a tax refund of AU$ xxx'
When the victim fills out the form and clicks the 'print' button, all of the personal details are instantly sent to a third party overseas.
After submitting personal details, victims are redirected back to the genuine ATO website.
These scams are predominantly designed to conduct identity theft and credit card fraud.
From time to time, the ATO may amend your tax return (for example, because of a data-matching exercise). If this happens, we will send you an amended notice of assessment on paper to your postal address. It will never be sent by email.
Anyone who receives a suspicious phone call or email should contact us immediately.
Key indicators of this scam include:
- the email asks you to confirm or update your personal details. You should always be suspicious of this
- it is poorly worded with spelling and grammatical mistakes
- includes an attachment (form)
- comes from an email address which is not a valid ATO email address
- asks for credit card and PIN numbers
- the 'print form' button sends all of the personal details to the scammers (as well as sending the form to your printer)
- the scam asks for the paper form to be sent to an authentic ATO address, to attempt to increase authenticity.
Examples of this scam:
Example 'Recalculation of your tax refund' email content:
Tax return for individuals - 2009
2008 - 2009 Recalculation of you tax refund
After the last annual calculation of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of AU$ 568.24
Complete the individual tax return form attached to this message. After completing the form print the form by clicking the PRINT button on the form and mail the form to our head office.
Our head office address can be found on our website at http://www.ato.gov.au/
Sincerely,
Australian Taxation Office
Canberra
Ground floor, Ethos House
28-36 Ainslie Avenue
Civic Square ACT 2600
Sections within Examples of tax related scams
Last Modified: Sunday, 19 May 2013