This tax time, the ATO is receiving an increased number of reports about several ATO impersonation SMS and email scams. These phishing scams encourage people to click on a link that directs them to fake myGov sign in pages designed to steal their username and password.
Scammers use many different phrases to try and trick recipients into opening these links. These include (but are not limited to):
- ‘You are due to receive an ATO Direct refund’
- ‘You have an ATO notification’
- ‘You need to update your details to allow your Tax return to be processed’
- ‘We need to verify your incoming tax deposit’
- ‘ATO Refund failed due to incorrect BSB/Account number’
- ‘Due to receive a refund, click here to receive a rebate’
Do not open any links or provide the information requested.
The ATO will not send you an SMS or email with a link to log on to online services. While the ATO may use SMS or email to ask you to contact them, they will never ask you to return personal information through these channels.
Accessing the ATO online can be done directly by typing ato.gov.au or my.gov.au into the internet browser.
The images below are examples of the format these scams can take:
Report any suspicious contact claiming to be from the ATO to: ReportScams@ato.gov.au
Reference: Scam alerts – ATO