A SOPHISTICATED phone scam claiming to come from the Australian Taxation Office is currently targeting homes.
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Dozens of residents have been contacted by the scammers in recent days, prompting an urgent warning from local accountants not to be fooled.
The caller claims to be from the ATO and threatens the resident that they are about to be prosecuted for tax irregularities unless they call (02) 6152 8694 to arrange to pay a fine.
The phone number is a fake and the Western Advocate received an angry response when we phoned it yesterday.
After a long delay that suggested we had been diverted to an overseas number, the call was answered by a man who said: “Australian Taxation Office, can I help you?”
When the Western Advocate asked where the office was based, we received a curt: “None of your business.”
When we asked if this was really the Australian Tax Office, we were again told: “None of your business.”
And when we reminded the man that he had answered the phone with “Australian Tax Office, can I help you?” we were told: “[Expletive] you, mother [expletive] – do not call me back.”
Morse Group tax counsel Paul Dowd said he had never before heard of a single scam targeting so many local homes.
He said the ATO was keen to hear from residents who are contacted by the scammers.
“What the ATO want to do is find out, if possible, the message left by the scammers and for people to record any details provided by the callers, and information such as the time of the call,” he said.
“The tax office is well aware of this situation, but sometimes people can respond without thinking because the callers can be quite aggressive.
“These scams always do the rounds, but this is the first time I’ve had a lot of people call at once, so that’s why it seems to me that Bathurst is being targeted as we speak.”
Another local accountant, Peter Crowley from Talbots, said he had been contacted by at least 10 clients who were worried about the calls. He said the scam was targeting the naive and trusting.
“We’ve had a lot of calls, but the people we are worried about are those who are not calling us,” he said. “The ATO never calls directly and if there was a problem they would notify you by letter or through your tax agent.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s ScamWatch website advises that tax threats are a popular ploy among scammers.
“The ATO advises that from time to time it will send taxpayers emails, SMS messages or official social media updates alerting them to new
services. However, the ATO will never request personal or financial information by SMS or email,” the website states.
“If you receive a call or email out of the blue from someone claiming to represent the ATO and that you are entitled to, or owe money – just hang up or press delete.
“You can check whether they’re the real deal by calling the ATO on its official number: 13 28 69.”