Beware of the Latest Fake ATO E-Mail Scam

There are a number of ATO scam emails currently circulating. These emails claim to come from the ATO and generally offer a tax refund. The emails go to great lengths to convince recipients that they are genuine and often contain a replica of the ATO’s logo. They usually link to a bogus ATO website asking for personal and credit card details.

The ATO have confirmed they will never ask for personal or credit card details in an email.

Key indicators of the scams include:

• the email asks you to provide personal details
• it is poorly worded with spelling and grammatical mistakes
• includes an attachment or link to a webpage to lodge a form
• comes from an email address which is not a valid ATO email address
• asks for credit card and PIN numbers.

An example of an email currently circulating is below:

After clicking on the email link you will be directed to the following fake website:

If you are in doubt as to whether an ATO email is genuine or not, please contact our office.