Be wary of emails, phone calls and text messages claiming to be from the ATO.
If you think a phone call, SMS, voicemail, email or interaction on social media claiming to be from the ATO is not genuine, do not engage with it. You should either:
January 2023 – ATO social media impersonation accounts scam
We’re seeing an increase in fake social media accounts impersonating the ATO, our employees and senior executive staff across Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and other platforms.
These fake accounts ask users that interact with the ATO to send them a direct message so they can help with their enquiry. The people behind these fake accounts are trying to steal your personal information, including phone numbers, email addresses and bank account information.
The best way to verify that it’s really the ATO is to:
check how many people follow the account. Our verified Facebook and LinkedIn accounts have over 200,000 followers, and our Twitter account has over 65,000 followers
check activity on the accounts. Our social media channels have been operating for around 10 years – if it’s a newly created account, or only has a few posts, it’s not us
look for the grey tick next to our username (@ato_gov_au) on Twitter and the blue tick next to our name (Australian Taxation Office) on Facebook
make sure any email addresses provided to you end with ‘.gov.au’.
The images below show examples of what impersonation accounts might look like.
If you’re approached by an impersonation account, do not engage with them. Take a screenshot of the account, email the information to ReportScams@ato.gov.au and block the account through the social media platform’s reporting function.
July 2022 – tax refund SMS scams
We’re concerned about a high volume of SMS scams pretending to be from the ATO.
These scams tell you that you’re owed an income tax repayment and ask you to click a hyperlink and complete a form.
Clicking the link takes you to a fake ATO webpage that asks for your personal identifying information, including your credit card details.
