The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is warning people around the country of an increase in email phishing scams in the lead up to the end of the financial year.
Issuing the warning, the ATO said the scam emails claim to have come from the Tax Office.
“These scams tell people their ‘2022 tax lodgement’ has been received,” the ATO said.
“The email asks them to open an attachment to sign a document and complete their ‘to do list details’,” it said.
“Opening the attachment takes you to a fake Microsoft login page designed to steal your login details.”
The ATO said if people entered their password into the fake login page they may give the scammer access to their Microsoft account, “allowing them to reset your passwords for other accounts like banking and online shopping.”
The Office said people who received an email like the one described above shouldn’t click on any links or open any attachments, but instead forward the email to [email protected], and then delete it.
“The real ATO will never send you an email or SMS with a link to log in to our online services,” it said.
“And while we may use email or SMS to ask you to contact us, we will never send an unsolicited message asking you to return personal identifying information through these channels.”
The ATO reminded people to protect their passwords by updating them regularly.
