It's That Time of year Again... ATO Scammers

Aside from the actual fascinating ATO scam, I've had 4 people call today claiming to be from the ATO. Googled their numbers and the usual came up about what they're up to. Numbers are

+61 2 6188 5674
0419 220 399

I called them back and "Steven White" answered with a thick Indian accent. All he asked was for an attorney name to represent me so said Steve McQueen should be able to assist and gave a number with an extra digit. He thanked me and disappointingly hung up... Not sure what their angle is for that but thinking I should have acted more worried as they probably weren't expecting an actual response.

They had my full name and number which has never happened before for these kinds of calls so just an FYI for everyone (even though I know you're all pretty switched on )

Who called you from 0261885619 (+61261885619) ? gives an idea of what others have encountered.

"Kath Anderson, assistant commissioner at the Australian Taxation Office, said 48,084 scams were reported to the ATO between July and October." Can only imagine how many don't go reported.

 

The ATO will never ring and threaten. In fact if the ATO ring they must identify the person they are speaking to first.

DO NOT SPEAK TO ANYONE CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE ATO and dont give them a single piece of your identity. NEVER. Ask for their EXTENSION NUMBER. All ATO staffers have one. With that you can call their main switchboard on 132865 and when put through you will then know its an ATO staffer.

Hang up if they cant tell you a extension number. Not a direct number - an extension number

And then dont fret. In 99.9% of cases its a scam and if you owed money the ATO would send you a letter. They often send them frequently before calling.

They had your name and number from a reverse phonebook search or some other scam.

 

some time ago, i received a email saying i owe ATO money and with a pdf letter, i sent to my accountant and he told me to ignore it.

 

Its become common and they look so.fn obvious i reckon i should charge a fee each time to compensate for the time looking at something so.obvious and then arguing with people who think its real. Really.

Ever see the nigerian letter scam and thought if was real? Give me a hundred