Latest scam data
October update
In October 2025, we received 3,625 reports of ATO impersonation scams, which is a 21% decrease from September.
There were no reports of payments made to scammers.
Find out how to protect your personal information and verify or report a scam.
For legitimate ways to pay your tax debt, see How to pay.
Scam channel data
The following table provides a breakdown of scams reported to the ATO by channel used. The social media category includes scams that occur through platforms like Facebook, X, LinkedIn and WhatsApp.
The 'Other' category includes less common scam types such as physical letters and face-to-face approaches. Historically, this channel accounts for less than 0.1% of scam reports made to the ATO.
|
Month |
|
SMS |
Phone |
Social media |
Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
October 2025 |
98.1% |
1.1% |
0.7% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
September 2025 |
97.7% |
1.0% |
1.2% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
August 2025 |
97.7% |
1.5% |
0.7% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
July 2025 |
95.8% |
3.4% |
0.7% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
June 2025 |
97.9% |
1.1% |
0.9% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
May 2025 |
93.9% |
5.1% |
0.9% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
April 2025 |
96.5% |
2.8% |
0.5% |
0.2% |
0.0% |
|
March 2025 |
98.5% |
1.0% |
0.4% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
February 2025 |
97.9% |
1.7% |
0.4% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
|
January 2025 |
90.9% |
8.1% |
0.9% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
December 2024 |
90.4% |
8.9% |
0.6% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
November 2024 |
91.8% |
7.2% |
0.8% |
0.2% |
0.0% |
|
October 2024 |
77.5% |
20.8% |
1.3% |
0.4% |
0.0% |
|
|
SMS |
Phone |
Social media |
Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
97.1% |
2.0% |
0.8% |
0.1% |
0.0% |