South Australia Police (SAPOL) has issued a warning on superannuation investment scams following notification from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that there has been a spike in incidents.
In a statement, SAPOL said the ATO was seeing an increase in phone and email scams involving fake superannuation investments.
“Scammers pretending to be financial advisers or superannuation experts are encouraging people to invest their super in a supposedly high-performing, self-managed super fund (SMSF),” SAPOL said.
“In reality, the scammers are transferring victims’ super into bank accounts they control, and using the information provided to steal victims’ identities,” it said.
“It’s a good idea to check who you’re dealing with before providing any personal or financial information.”
The ATO said it was concerned about the increase in scams involving fake superannuation investments.
“These scammers will start by asking you for some information and may ask you to do a super comparison online,” the ATO said.
“They are likely to be persistent and may contact you multiple times,” it said.
The Office said scammers would sometimes fraudulently use the name and Australian Financial Service Licence (AFSL) of a real business and set up a fake website to appear legitimate.
“They will tell you there is no need for you to engage directly with the ATO, ASIC or any other tax or super professional,” it said.
“If you agree to invest, they will transfer your super into bank accounts they control and disappear with it.
“Even if you don’t agree to invest, if you provide them with enough personal information they may use this to transfer your super from your existing account without you knowing, ultimately stealing your super savings.”
The Agency said that if people received an SMS, email or letters from the ATO about an SMSF that they did not establish, they should phone the ATO on 13 10 20 immediately.
Further information can be found on the ATO’s website at this PS News link.
