Latest scam data
August update
In August 2026, we received 3,265 reports of ATO impersonation scams, which is a 36% increase from July.
There were no reports of payments made to scammers.
Find out how to protect your personal information and verify or report an ATO 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
August 2026 |
98.6% |
0.4% |
0.8% |
0.2% |
0.0% |
|
July 2026 |
98.5% |
0.6% |
0.8% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
June 2026 |
98.5% |
0.9% |
0.4% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
|
May 2026 |
95.6% |
1.6% |
2.7% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
April 2026 |
98.5% |
0.4% |
1.0% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
March 2026 |
96.7% |
2.3% |
1.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
|
February 2026 |
97.0% |
0.6% |
2.3% |
0.1% |
0.0% |
|
January 2026 |
97.9% |
0.7% |
1.1% |
0.2% |
0.1% |
|
December 2025 |
97.1% |
1.2% |
1.5% |
0.2% |
0.0% |
|
November 2025 |
97.5% |
1.4% |
0.9% |
0.2% |
0.0% |
|
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% |
|
|
SMS |
Phone |
Social media |
Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
98.6% |
0.5% |
0.8% |
0.1% |
0.0% |