As the dates for filing tax are coming closer, tax payers are searching for all the possible investment options to save some of it. This panic is often used by scammers to fool people by using fake schemes. This is generally done by sending emails and online methods to lure in tax saving schemes which might cost you way more than the tax that you wanted to save. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is quiet concerned about these activities and urges tax payers to not fall into traps made by scammers.
Every tax payer must know that ATO will never ask you for any personal details of account and also no refunds or payments are asked. Scammers generally scare people by telling that they might get immediately arrested if some amount is not refunded or paid. The common way is by emails but people have reported phone calls as well. Here are a few points that every tax payer must remember:
- ATO will never threaten anyone with immediate arrest
- No refund of money or deposits are requested by the ATO
- ATO will never ask you to pay any amount of money by way of iTunes cards or any other pre-paid card. This one is really important to remember as the money is easily transferrable by these means and hard to detect. Hence scammers often make use of it.
- ATO will never ask you to deposit any amount of money is a personal account.
- ATO will never ask you to give any personal information of your like bank details, credit card details, Tax file number etc… Beware of emails asking to provide these details. On receiving such mails you must contact the tax department immediately.
Since most of the scams fall under the category of cyber crime, it is advised to have a protected system by way of good antivirus software installed and updated. If you receive any mail that seems to be sent to a number of people (bulk mail), never respond to it. Never open any attachments in a mail sent from unknown person nor click on any links given. If the mail claims to be sent from the ATO, immediately forward it to reportemailfraud@ato.gov.au and delete the same from your email account.
If you get a call asking about any information, never give any details. You should immediately call on 1800 008 540 and check if it was from the tax department.
