Social media users seeking answers from the ATO are being targeted by scammers, federal government says

The federal government is once again warning taxpayers to be on the lookout for scammers, urging Australians to be wary of fake Australian Taxation Office (ATO) representatives offering their assistance through social media.

Scammers are monitoring public social media pages for commenters seeking assistance with their tax payments or MyGov registration and reaching out to those taxpayers from bogus accounts, the federal government states.

Those fraudsters build rapport with their targets before directing them to pages that request sensitive information, including bank account details.

The ATO is now working with major social media platforms and other government departments to crack down on those fraudulent accounts, the federal government says.

However, lawmakers contend the best way to avoid a scam is to remain personally vigilant.

“Fake tax officer accounts on Twitter and Facebook can be extremely convincing, which is what makes this scam so insidious,” Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said Monday.

“The tax office will never ask for personal information over social media and never send links that ask you to fill out your personal information like your tax file number, myGov log in or bank account details.”

The focus on social media scammers arrives as the ATO builds new resiliency in its own digital systems, and the roll-out of its new tax agent-to-client linking system is designed to cut down on tax fraud.

It ensures businesses authorise their accountants to act on their behalf through secure government systems, making it harder for scammers to misrepresent themselves as tax agents and siphon refunds into their own accounts.

However, expanding the system is not without its own challenges: the amended scheme could ask small business owners to register for a MyGovID, the cause of much stress during the Director ID Number sign-up period.

It is feasible that business owners seeking help on social media for that sign-up process could expose them to fraudsters, intensifying the need for vigilance online.

The new warning comes six months after the ATO warned of a scam that used fake tax return systems to skim personal details.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission last year estimated total scam losses for 2022 could hit $4 billion.