Yahoo Finance ATO urging Aussies to do this right now: ‘Everyone’s concern’
The ATO has asked Aussies to use myGovID, after rolling out new security protections to the service.
Aussies are being urged to take steps to protect their personal information, as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) reports an “unprecedented rise” in fraud attempts.
The ATO has now asked Aussies to set up and use myGovID when interacting with its online services. A myGovID is different to myGov and requires you to set up a minimum level of identity strength to access services such as myGov and Centrelink.
“Global threats, organised crime, the use of artificial intelligence and increased data breaches in the community all mean the risk of fraud is only growing,” ATO deputy commissioner John Ford said.
Have you fallen victim to a identity fraud? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com
The ATO said it has launched security upgrades this week, which will add extra layers of protections to taxpayers using myGovID to access ATO online services.
Ford recommended people set their myGovID at the strongest level they can obtain. Once they are in myGov, they can then authenticate their identity with myGovID and link it to the ATO.
“These two simple steps will protect you against many forms of identity fraud,” Ford said.
“From that point on, you’ll need to use myGovID to log into ATO online services and the identity strength you have used will become the minimum level needed whenever you log in in the future.”
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‘Anyone is fair game’
Ford said everyone had a role in combating fraud, including individuals and tax professionals.
“Fraud is everyone’s concern,” he said.
“Those attempting fraud are sophisticated. They continually assault systems right across the community to build their expertise and find new ways of breaching defences.
“These criminals do not care if they are targeting the ATO, a tax agent or a small business – anything and anyone is fair game for these heartless thieves.”
Steps to take
The ATO is urging the community to:
Be aware of where you share your personal information
Use myGovID when interacting with the ATO’s online services and set it up to the highest identity strength possible
Act quickly if you think you may have had your identity compromised, including telling the ATO and cancelling and re-issuing any compromised government identity documents
Remember if someone seems too good to be true, it probably is
Think twice when receiving an SMS or email from the ATO
Aussies lost a record $3.1 billion to scams last year, up 80 per cent from $2 billion lost in 2021. Of that, $10.7 million lost was related to identity theft.
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