In the lead up to Christmas the Australian Tax Office ( ATO) and SAPOL are warning the public of ongoing reports of tax debt scam phone calls.
“The scammers will often call or leave a recorded message on your phone, advising of a tax debt and that if you don’t pay it straight away, you’ll be arrested,” SAPOL said in a statement today.
“If you’re ever unsure whether an ATO interaction is genuine, hang up. You can phone the ATO on 1800 008 540 to check.”
Police say the scammers would often:
- threaten you with immediate arrest, jail or deportation.
- insist you stay on the phone until a payment is made
- use a fake caller ID of a phone number that appears legitimate
“SAPOL are also seeing a recent trend in relation to ATO scams, with the scammers moving away from requesting gift cards and actually providing BSB and account details for victims to transfer the money the into.”
Check the tips at www.ato.gov.au/scams to find out more about scammers’ methods and how you can tell if it’s really the ATO calling.
For further information on scams please visit www.police.sa.gov.au/scams
