Yet another ATO scam we are being warned about by the ATO. This time the ATO are reporting an impersonation scam where people are contacted by someone from the ATO demanding payment of a ‘debt’.
In these scams, the person pretending to be from the ATO says they have dialled the victim’s tax agent into a three-way teleconference; however, it isn’t the victim’s tax agent, but instead it is someone pretending to be from the agent’s practice. The person then instructed the victim to pay the ‘debt’ on that day, and via bitcoin.
The ATO reports that during July and August it received more than 7000 scam reports to its dedicated phone line, with close to $190,000 being paid to scammers, and more than 1600 people handing over their personal or financial information.
The ATO will issue payment demand notices for outstanding debts so be wary of any such phone calls. The ATO will never ask you to pay your debts via bitcoin or gift cards that’s for sure!
If you receive suspicious calls please let us know as soon as possible so we can report them to the ATO.
Click here to access previous scams the ATO has identified.
