This article was published in Public Accountant on 7.09.2018
The Tax Office has warned tax agents of a new method of phishing for personal and financial information as it clamps down on scammer behaviour.
According to ATO assistant commissioner Kath Anderson, the new method has fraudsters initiating a three-way phone conversation between the scammer, the victim and another scammer impersonating the victim’s tax agent.
“While we see new scams pop up from time to time, the most common scam is still the ‘fake tax debt’ phone scam, though the ‘fake refund’ and ‘refund for a fee’ scams are on the rise.”
During July and August, the ATO said it received over 7,000 scam reports to its dedicated phone line, with close to $190,000 being paid to scammers and over 1,600 people handing over their personal or financial information.