Consumers warned about tax scams

Consumers have been warned to expect heightened scam activity and new tax scams now that tax season is almost upon us.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) received about 20,000 scam reports in the first 11 months of the 2022-23 financial year, according to Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones.

Minister Jones said impersonation scams – in which criminals pretend to be from the ATO – were common at this time of year.

Under these scams, fraudsters will contact people by unsolicited phone calls, emails, text messages and social media messages. They may offer to answer tax questions, promise fake tax refunds or direct users to fake myGov login pages. Often, their aim is to collect as much personal information as possible.

The ATO will never send you a link to login to their online services or ask you to send personal information via text, email or social media.

Do not respond if you receive any suspicious contact. Instead, call 1800 008 540 to check if it was the ATO speaking with you.