Protecting Yourself from Tax Scammers

With scammers continuously developing new scams, it’s important that you know how to protect yourself from becoming one of their victims. 

The ATO have provided 5 tips on how to protect yourself: 

Tip 1: Know your tax affairs – you can contact us to confirm whether you have any outstanding lodgement obligations, tax debts or tax refunds

Tip 2: Always keep your personal and financial information well-guarded – be careful when clicking on links, downloading files, and opening attachments in emails and text messages. Only provide your personal information to people you trust and try not to share on social media. 

Tip 3: If you are ever unsure about whether a call, text message or email is genuine. STOP. Do not reply. Call the ATO’s scam line on 1800 008 540 to check. 

Tip 4: Know legitimate ways to make ATO payments – scammers tend to use threatening tactics to trick their victims into paying false debts via pre-paid gift cards or sending money to non-ATO bank accounts. You can check whether a payment method is legitimate by visiting ato.gov.au/howtopay. 

Tip 5: Talk to your family and friends about scams – if you or someone you know has fallen victim to an ATO-related scan, call the ATO as soon as you can to report it.