Taxing times as hoaxers scam Aussies

TAX scammers are increasing their use of threatening phone calls, bizarre requests and new technologies to steal from victims.

The Australian Taxation Office says scam activity surges at tax time, and it already has noticed a fivefold increase in scams so far this year, with “convincing” hoaxes costing victims hundreds of thousands of dollars.

H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman said his firm was receiving reports across Australia from clients contacted by scammers requesting bank account details for bogus refunds or demanding payment for nonexistent tax debts.

“They have established that the way to make these scams work is to be as forceful, threatening and aggressive as they can,” he said.

“People don’t think straight when they feel under pressure, and are more likely to do things that they otherwise wouldn’t.”

Mr Chapman said the high pressure tactics used by scammers this year included demanding instant payment by money transfers or iTunes cards.

“In real life the ATO never asks you to pay a debt over the phone,” he said.

An ATO spokeswoman said some overseas scammers were using internet phone calls to project real ATO numbers on to their caller IDs, and demanding payment immediate payments with prepaid gift cards.

She said some victims were being contacted repeatedly and asked to pay fake debts in instalments. One victim handed over $900,000 to tax scammers between July 2016 and February this year. Another lost $100,000 to a similar tactic.

“The scammers were so convincing that when the ATO tried to contact the victim to let her know she had been involved in a scam, she did not believe the ATO officers,” the spokeswoman said.

Sophos cybersecurity specialist David Sykes said he had seen a rise in phone scams.

“They will try to create some sort of urgency,” he said.

Email scams are also surging. “Scamming costs almost next to nothing. They can set up a spam server for $4000, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.’’