ATO warns about iTunes scammers
The ATO is reminding the public to be alert to scammers impersonating the ATO demanding iTunes gift cards as a form of tax debt payment.
Of the 8692 phone scam reports the ATO received in April 2016 in relation to the fake ATO tax debt scam, 58 reports mentioned the scammer demanding payment by iTunes (and apparently 26 people unfortunately payed $174,830 to fraudsters!)
Importantly, the scammers don’t need the actual physical card; they just need the gift card number, which they get victims to read over the phone.
The ATO states: “We will never request the payment of a tax debt via gift or pre-paid cards such as iTunes and Visa cards. Nor will we ask for direct credit to be paid to a personal bank account.
“And if the person calling you is rude and aggressive, threatening police or legal action if you don’t do something immediately – it’s not the ATO”.
We suggest that if you get one of these types of calls that you take their return phone number and details and contract us straight away to investigate it. It is better to be safe then sorry.
