Yahoo Finance Major ATO change to ‘protect’ taxpayers
SMS scams impersonating the ATO increased by more than 400 per cent last financial year.
Taxpayers will soon notice a key difference in text messages sent by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), as the agency announces a crackdown on scams.
The ATO has committed to removing hyperlinks from all outbound unsolicited SMS text messages by tax time this year. The government agency said there had been “significant growth” in cybercriminals targeting taxpayers via text messages.
“Throughout the 2022–23 financial year, SMS scams impersonating the ATO brand, products, services, and our people, increased by over 400 per cent,” the ATO said.
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“Cybercriminals often use hyperlinks in targeted SMS phishing scams. The hyperlinks take clients to highly sophisticated fraudulent websites - such as a fake myGov sign in page - designed to steal clients’ personal information or install malware.”
By removing links, the ATO hopes it will help “protect the community” and make it easier to identify genuine messages.
“We may use SMS or email to ask you to contact us, but we will never send an unsolicited message containing a link or ask you for personal identifying information (PII) through these channels,” the ATO said.
“If you want to access our online services, always type ‘my.gov.au’ or ‘ato.gov.au’ into your internet browser yourself.”
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There were more than 25,000 ATO-impersonation scams reported last financial year, an increase of more than 25 per cent. The good news is the ATO said the amount of people who paid money to scammers or gave their personal information decreased significantly, year on year.
The ATO urged Aussies to protect their personal information, including by not sharing their tax file number, date of birth or bank details unless it was with a trusted person who genuinely required the details.
Aussies who receive a suspicious phone call, SMS, email or other contact are being urged not to interact, and to either check the ATO’s website or phone them directly on 1800 008 540.
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