Yahoo Finance IT'S A SCAM: ATO warns about fake tax refund texts
The Australian Tax Office is warning about fraudsters pretending to be from the ATO and offering fake “tax refunds”.
The catch is, they’re not from the ATO and the “tax refund” is a scam designed to get victims’ personal information.
The scam comes in the form of a text with a link asking you to click it to get your fake refund.
“If you click on the link it will take you to a fake ‘Tax Refund’ form in order to steal your personal information,” the ATO said in a statement.
What does the text look like?
According to the tax office, the text might read like this:
“You are due for a refund of $2675.51. Visit www.atoreclaim.com and logon with your phone number and ATO PIN to claim.”
This is a fake.
“In an effort to make the text appear real, scammers use technology that makes their message appear in your legitimate ATO message feed,” the statement said.
“Remember to always exercise caution when clicking links or opening attachments in emails or SMS’ even if they are from someone you know.”
The ATO doesn’t have an online ‘Tax Refund’ form, and will never send an email or SMS asking people to access online services through a hyperlink.
“All online management of your tax affairs should be carried out in ATO online services accessed via your genuine myGov account.”
You can make your ATO and myGov account more secure by updating your sign-in options at my.gov.au to receive a code by SMS when signing in.
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