Scammers impersonating the Australian Taxation Office are common at this time of year. Photo: Getty
As tax time draws closer, so do the scammers.
The federal government is warning Australians that there are more scammers this year than in the past.
In 2021-22 the Australian Taxation Office received more than 20,000 scam reports from taxpayers, and already in the 2022-23 financial year it has received 19,843 reports, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones said.
Impersonation scams are mostly commonly seen at tax time.
Scammers will impersonate the ATO and contact individuals via a link to a fake myGov login page.
The common tricks of tax scammers include:
The top ways to protect yourself against scammers this tax time is to:
The ATO has a team dedicated to monitoring scams and assisting people who have fallen victim to scammers.
It urges you to report any suspicious contact who claims to be from the ATO.
Go to [email protected] and Scamwatch.