Last year the Australian Tax Office (ATO) faced an unprecedented surge in scams orchestrated by impersonators, with a staggering 25,609 reported cases in the last financial year alone—an alarming 25% increase from the previous year. This unsettling trend underscores the growing sophistication of cyber criminals and the urgent need for heightened vigilance among taxpayers.
Cyber criminals employ deceptive tactics, such as:hyperlinks embedded in messages, to redirect unsuspecting individuals to counterfeit websites. Once there, personal information is harvested, or worse, malware is installed, jeopardising the security and privacy of unsuspecting victims.
In response to this evolving threat , the ATO is removing hyperlinks from all outgoing SMS this year. This move aims to empower individuals to discern legitimate messages from fraudulent ones.
The ATO may use SMS to contact you, but they will never include links to log in pages. If you want to access the ATO’s online services, always type my.gov.au or ato.gov.au into your internet browser yourself.
Protect your personal information from identity thieves. Do not give out your TFN, date of birth or bank details unless you trust the person you are dealing with, and they genuinely require these details.
Verify or report a scam. What to do if you get a phone call, text message or email that you're not sure is genuine.
Remember, vigilance is our strongest defense against cyber threats. Let's unite in our commitment to safeguarding our financial security and privacy in the digital age.
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