The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is warning Aussies about fake websites that are scamming people by charging for tax file numbers or Australian business numbers that are freely provided by the ATO. 

According to the ATO, these fake websites advertise free government services on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for a fee and then do not provide them. 

There has been an increase in reports about these fake websites, with over 50,000 Australians reported scammers impersonating the ATO last year and with cumulative losses in excess of $800,000. 

“We are also still seeing scammers impersonating the ATO, making threats, demanding the payment of fake tax debts or claiming a TFN has been ‘suspended’ due to fraud,” ATO assistant commissioner Tim Loh said. 

The scammers use an offer of TFN and ABN numbers to lure victims, despite those numbers being provided free by the ATO and the Australian Business Register. 

They can also be obtained through a tax agent, and the ATO warns anyone applying through an agent to make sure they are registered with the Tax Practitioners Board. 

The ATO warns citizens that scammers are always on the lookout for new ways to target victims and that attempts to steal people’s personal information are likely to increase in the lead up to tax time. 

All three platforms have community guidelines or terms of use policies that prohibit fraudulent or other illegal activity and rely on machine learning and human moderators to police it on their global platforms that billions of people use. 

The ATO says Australians should be alert to online scammers and report them to the ATO or the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s ScamWatch. 

People can check if they have a legitimate tax debt by logging into their myGov account, and those who do owe a debt will be notified by the ATO before it is due. 

With AAP

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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