Every year, thousands of Australians are targeted by scams, whether it be online, via phone, mail or even in person.
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Australian Community Media has compiled a list of current scams identified on sites such as scamwatch.gov.au and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's website dedicated to informing people about fraudulent and dishonest activities:
Australia Post scams
- Scamwatch.gov.au has warned of Australia Post scams doing the rounds again.
- Fraudulent emails that are circulating advising customers of an update for a shipment and prompting them to click on a link to pay a fee.
- The link will lead to a fraudulent website which is designed to steal your personal and financial information.
- Australia Post will never email, call or text you asking for personal or financial information or a payment.
- Australia Post's advice is to report a suspicious email or text message that appears to be from Australia Post to scams@auspost.com.au and delete it immediately.
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Scams
- Scammers pretend to be from the ATO tell people their tax file number (TFN) has either been suspended due to illegal activity or compromised by a scammer.
- They request the call recipient to either pay a fine to release their TFN or transfer all bank funds into a holding account to protect it from future misuse.
- The ATO does not suspend TFNs and will never request you pay a fine or transfer money in order to protect your TFN pending legal action.
- Phone calls from the ATO do not project a number on caller ID and we will never send unsolicited pre-recorded messages to your phone.
- If you receive a phone call like this, hang up and do not provide the information requested.
- If you're unsure whether an ATO contact is genuine, phone 1800 008 540 to check.
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