Police are warning the public regarding a fraudulent email purporting to be from the Australian Taxation Office offering recipients a tax refund of $210.75.
A police spokesman said people were receiving an official looking ATO email including the ATO insignia from an email address containing the information “@taxation.com Subject: ID: 46 – Tax Refund Notice!”
The email advises the recipient to wait 6-9 working days for their “refund” to be received and they are directed to click on a link which appears to start as a genuine “ato.gov.au” email address but on closer inspection contains a “@hotmail.com” address within the link.
The fraudsters tell the recipient they will record their IP address, date and time and threaten that deliberate wrong inputs are criminally pursued and persecuted.
When directed to the website recipients are confronted with an authentic looking web page and are required to enter an array of identity details, credit card number, credit card estimated credit card balance and amongst other things to upload a scan of their driver’s license.
After submitting these details the final page of the fraudster’s website redirects the recipient back to the “authentic” ATO website.
Police said the fraudsters were clearly targeting specific identity information and anyone who had responded to this fraudulent email should cancel their credit card immediately, and consider having their credit rating reviewed and perhaps monitored in the event the criminals will attempt to seek a line of credit in your name.
Police warn that this sophisticated attack is very similar to a recent Telstra phishing email attack and it is vital that members of the public were vigilant when managing their email.
“While fake emails like the ATO scam email are nothing new, people are still falling victim to it each day,” Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of the State Crime Operations Command’s Fraud and Corporate Crime Group said.
“This is very much a concern to us.
“It is also not uncommon for these phishing sites to infect their computer with a variety of malware, so it is vital that people have up-to-date anti-virus systems.”
