The ATO has warned you may get stung by any of a number of refund scam emails currently circulating.

These emails claim to come from the ATO and offer a tax refund.  Generally, they link to a bogus ATO website asking for personal and credit card details.  The emails may differ in their appearance and level of sophistication but will generally state that you are eligible for a refund and instruct you to click on a link to submit a form to receive it.  

One version of this scam contains an attachment infected with a virus.  Typically, you will be asked to complete a form or click a link allowing scammers to steal your information or infect your computer with malware.  Malware (short for malicious software), consists of programming designed to disrupt or deny operation and to gather information which leads to a loss of privacy or exploitation, gain unauthorised access to system resources, and other abusive behaviour.

Be aware that the ATO SMS and email messages will never include, or ask you to provide, personal information and do not require any form of reply.

And you are not safe on the phone either!  

From time to time the ATO may contact you by phone but you should be wary of unsolicited phone calls claiming to be from the ATO and offering you a tax refund.  Increasingly these scams use names and addresses that have some correlation to actual ATO officers and buildings.  If in doubt about the authenticity of a call that you receive from the ATO we recommend that you contact the ATO on one of their publicly listed numbers to verify the legitimacy of the call.

Under no circumstances should you give personal information including credit card or banking details. Anyone who has received a suspicious phone call or email should contact the ATO immediately.

Written by Cherie Powell