Australians lost $77 million to email scams last year. Scammers send 'urgent' emails pretending to be from the government, law enforcement and businesses.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have announced last week it will no longer send an SMS message to taxpayers to inform them their tax return has been processed, as the rising tide of fraudulent messages makes it difficult to discern real communications from costly scams.
Last week, the ATO said it will cut the number of direct SMS communications to taxpayers this tax time. Previously, the ATO issued two SMS messages after users lodged a tax return: one to alert taxpayers their return had been processed, and another to inform them a refund had been paid.
The ATO will drop the first SMS message this time around, only using the format to inform taxpayers when their 2023-2024 refund is completed.
As for emails scammers have been cleverly using the same logo and a similar email address as a real organisation, such as the ATO. Scammers can also copy or 'spoof' the email address of an organisation or business to make the scam email look more real.
Police are asking residents to be vigilant and to look out for the following warnings.
Warning signs it might be a scam:
◾ You receive a message that asks you to click on a link that takes you to a webpage asking for your username, password, or personal information.
◾ There is an urgent request for action, and you are asked to provide personal details or money quickly.
◾ An organisation that you think is real, tells you there has been an unauthorised transaction, or asks you to confirm a payment that you didn’t make.
◾ A business asks you to use a different bank account and BSB from the last payment you made.
◾ You’re contacted by someone pretending to be from a government department, regulator or law enforcement and they threaten immediate arrest, deportation, or ask you to pay money.
◾ You’re asked to transfer money to an account to ‘keep it safe’ or for ‘further investigation’.
Steps you can take to avoid scams
These simple steps can help prevent loss of money or personal information to scams:
Check that the email or text message is real
*Contact the organisation or person using details you have found yourself (on their website or in the phone book) to check if the email was real.
*Access the organisations’ secure, authenticated portal or app directly (never via a link).
Learn how to protect your email account
*Use unique passwords for different accounts and consider using a password manager so you don’t need to remember every single password you use.
*Use multi-factor authentication when you can. This provides an extra layer of protection and means a scammer has to correctly guess your email password and a pin number sent to your phone to gain access to your email account.
eSafety has more advice on how to keep your email secure and the Australian Cyber Security Centre has a step-by-step guide on how to check the security of your email accounts following an incident or suspicious behaviour.
For more information on current Scams going around can be found through Scamwatch: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams
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