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Stephen Jones MP has alerted that scammers are impersonating ATO workers online in an attempt to fleece people out of money and personal information.
The Assistant Treasurer flagged the new “insidious” scam that has popped up involving fraudsters scanning public conversations on social media where taxpayers are asking questions or making complaints to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
According to Stephen Jones, the scammers will subsequently “hijack” the conversation utilising fake ATO profiles and contacting the taxpayer directly, usually with a follow-up on a comment or an offer to help resolve a complaint.
Once earning the trust of the potential victim, the impersonator will provide a link for them to access or ask for personal information.
“The ATO is working with social media platforms and other government agencies to help remove these damaging interactions,” the Assistant Treasurer stated.
“The best defence against such scams is community awareness. The ATO regularly publish information and advice on our social media and web pages on how to identify and report these scams.”
An ATO spokesperson said the government agency is aware of the accounts and is taking action in conjunction with social media platforms to combat these scams as they appear.
“We regularly publish information and advice on our social media pages educating the community how to identify and report these scams,” the spokesperson said.
“The ATO will never use Facebook, or any other social media platform, to ask for personal information or documentation or make payments.”
Furthermore, the ATO has urged social media users to never share personal information such as tax file numbers, myGov, or bank account details even through private messaging.
Mortgage industry becoming a target for cyber criminals
Speaking last month (December 2022) to The Adviser for its In Focus podcast, shadow minister for cyber security, senator James Paterson, warned that the mortgage industry in Australia is becoming an increasingly attractive target for cyber crimes.
“There is probably no larger digital transaction that most Australians will do in their lifetime than entering into a mortgage or buying a property,” Senator Paterson said.
“Just thinking about the money transferred to pay a deposit, for example, is a great way for a criminal to make a lot of money.”
The mortgage industry fell victim to a number of deposit interception attacks in 2022, with several brokers discovering that their emails had been replicated, resulting in client deposits being paid into the wrong accounts.
“We need to make those systems more resilient,” Senator Paterson added.
“The banks have a big responsibility here because they facilitate most of those transactions and they do have the resources to step in and make sure that that is a secure transaction.”
[RELATED: Deposit interception ‘a great way for a criminal to make money’, warns Senator Paterson]
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