The Australian Taxation Office has been receiving increasing reports of people losing money to automated phone scams.
Scammers pretending to be from the ATO tell people their tax file number (TFN) has either been suspended due to illegal activity or compromised by a scammer.
They request the call recipient either pay a fine to release their TFN or transfer all bank funds into a holding account to protect it from future misuse.
The ATO does not suspend TFNs and will never request you pay a fine or transfer money in order to protect your TFN pending legal action.
Phone calls from the ATO do not project a number on caller ID and we will never send unsolicited pre-recorded messages to your phone.
If you receive a phone call like this, hang up and do not provide the information requested.
If you’re unsure whether an ATO contact is genuine, phone us on 1800 008 540 to check.
For a voice recording of this scam, and to read about other known scams claiming to be from the ATO, please visit this link to the ATO website – ato.gov.au
Source – ato.gov.au
