An “insidious” new social media scam is targeting unsuspecting victims through fake accounts impersonating the tax office. 7NEWS
Watch the latest news and stream for free onNumerous fake accounts posing as official ATO pages or ATO workers have been popping up across Facebook and Twitter, the federal government warned on Monday.
The bogus accounts prey on people complaining about their experience with the ATO or myGov site or taxpayers asking questions online. The fake profiles hijack the conversation by directly contacting the poster with an offer to help resolve the complaint. After earning their trust, the scammer asks the person to click on a link or provide their personal details.Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the “insidious” scam could be “extremely convincing” and warned Australians to never give out their details online.
“The tax office will never ask for personal information over social media and never send links that ask you to fill out your personal information like your tax file number, myGov log-in or bank account details,” he said.Jones said the ATO is working with social media platforms and other government agencies to remove the fake accounts.