Ever wonder why the ATO constantly warn of fraudulent ATO contact (aka ‘scams’)? People must fall for them all the time as the scammer often appears to be professional and may even provide reference numbers for the calls/emails to keep up appearances.
If you receive suspicious contact from the ATO by emails, phone calls or letters then you should contact your tax agent to verify if the contact is genuine as a tax agent should be able to confirm the validity of the contact.
Below is an example of an email a client received recently:
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From: refunds@ato.gov.au
Subject: Information Regarding Australian Taxation Office
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 19:57:18 -0400
Dear Taxpayer,
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have discovered that
you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $387.75 AUD. Kindly complete the tax refund
request and allow 2-3 working days to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid
records or applying after the deadline. To access the form for your tax refund,
Please Click Here: http://www.ato.gov.au/refund=email@ato.gov.au/
Note: For security reasons, we will record your IP-address, the date and time.
Deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and persecuted.
Regards,
Australian Taxation Office (ATO)