How can you tell if a call from the ATO is legitimate?
Scams claiming to be the ATO are getting more and more common, so how can you tell if your call, text, or email from the Australian Tax Office is legitimate?
1. The ATO will never threaten to put you in jail
Scammers will often try to frighten you or rush you, to trick you into doing something that seems fishy like handing over your personal information. One common variety of the ATO scam is someone calling to say you have a big tax debt, and you’re going to be arrested and jailed if you don’t pay immediately. The ATO will never call out of the blue and threaten to have you arrested, or send you any message to that effect via text or email.
2. They will never ask for payment via gift cards
The ATO has no use for gift cards, and they’ll never ask you to pay anything that way. Scammers commonly ask for gift card codes from companies like iTunes, Steam, or Google Play as a form of payment, as they’re easy to get and impossible to trace once you’ve handed over the details, and this should be a big red flag anytime you hear it. They will also never ask for cash, overseas wire transfers, cryptocurrencies, or transfers to any bank other than the Reserve Bank of Australia. If the person on the other end of the phone is asking for those things, it’s a good chance it’s a scam.
3. Ask for personal info via text or email, or ask you to click a link
If you get a text or email supposedly from the ATO asking you to input details like your bank account or passwords, it’s 100% a scam. Similarly, any communication from the ATO containing links are likely not genuine.
4. They talk about types of money you might not have
Cryptocurrencies, or more accurately the lack of understanding around them, have been a gift to scammers, and some of the newest variations of the ATO scam have seen victims barraged with threats about it. Scammers might say you are suspected of being involved in cryptocurrency tax evasion and ask for information to confirm. If the person they’re speaking to has a crypto portfolio, they will ask for details to link their wallet to the ATO system, effectively losing access to it permanently. If they don’t hold any cryptocurrencies, they might use the confusion to ask for personal details to ‘clear up the mistake’.
If you receive one of these calls and you’re not sure if it’s legitimate, the best thing to do is get in touch with your tax agent or accountant or phone the ATO directly. They can look up your tax situation themselves, see if you’re owing anything unexpected, and get in touch with the Tax Office on your behalf to help solve the problem if it’s legit. If you’re on the phone with someone claiming to be from the tax office, you can ask them to contact your tax agent to resolve the problem – but don’t give them any personal information that they might ask for. If they really are from the ATO they will have the details of who submitted your tax return on file. For more information about ATO scams have a look at the ATO website’s scam alert (https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-services/identity-security-and-scams/scam-alerts/?=redirected_ScamAlerts)
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