The Australian Taxation Office has sounded the alarm on a phone scam, urging business owners and employees to be on high alert if anyone claims to be phone them from the ATO.
The scammers reportedly state they are phoning from the ATO, before asking for bank details so they can process JobKeeper wage subsidy payments.
The ATO has called out the scam on its website and social media pages, saying that while the ATO does “use email and SMS to communicate … we’ll never ask you to reply and provide personal information like your Tax File Number (TFN) or bank account number” and “We’ll also never include a hyperlink directing you to log on to our online services.”
The ATO website states that the ATO does not need bank account details of individual employees to process JobKeeper payments.
Eligible employees “will be paid by their employer and the ATO will reimburse their employer for these payments. ”
The ATO encourages business owners and employees to forward suspicious emails and texts claiming to be from the ATO to ReportEmailFraud@ato.gov.au, and to call 1800 008 540 to verify whether the ATO interaction is genuine before sharing any information.
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