TMCnet News
ATO warns: scammers are getting increasingly cunningMar 20, 2012 (Mass Media Distribution LLC via COMTEX) -- "Anyone can be the target of a scam," said Mr D'Ascenzo. "National Consumer Fraud Week from 19 to 25 March, serves as a timely reminder to the community to be aware of scams. "If something seems suspicious, too good to be true, asks you for personal details or cannot be verified by contacting an official source, it is likely to be a scam. Scams are designed to trick you into providing either money or personal information that can be used to commit fraud or other illegal activities using your name and details. "To catch people off guard, scammers use phone calls, letters, SMS messages, emails, bogus websites and even fake job advertisements. Last year we had about 25,000 reports of telephone and email scams using the ATO brand." A range of tricks are used to make scams appear authentic. For example: including a legitimate-sounding message at the start of a call, such as the call is being recorded 'for training purposes', sending emails that appear to have come from the ATO, which when opened or downloaded infect your computer with malicious software. "Do not be outsmarted by these types of scams. Be alert to scam behaviour and report anything suspicious," said Mr D'Ascenzo. "We are emailing 1.1 million e-tax users warning them about scams as part of this year's National Consumer Fraud Week. We also keep the community informed on the ATO website. These scams are then investigated by the ATO and other government agencies as appropriate, including the Australian Federal Police." To find out more about how you can protect yourself from scams, go online to www.ato.gov.au/onlinesecurity. If you think you have been the victim of a scam, contact us immediately by calling 1800 060 062 (8.00am - 6.00pm, Monday to Friday). You can also report suspected email scams to the ATO by forwarding the email to [email protected]. Source: ATO |