2 April, 2018
What has happened?
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued a warning about would-be scammers demanding cryptocurrency as a form of payment for fake tax debts.
What does this mean?
Since late 2017, scammers have been calling potential victims, impersonating the ATO and claiming that the victims owed unpaid taxes, which they wanted paid in bitcoin.
The ATO said in a press release that, so far, it has seen more than AU$50,000 paid in bitcoin to scammers claiming fake ATO tax debts.
Assistant Commissioner Kath Anderson warned that scammers are constantly their methods and that it was "inevitable" that they would target cryptocurrency, given their rise in popularity.
“Cryptocurrency operates in a virtual world, and once the scammers receive payment, it’s virtually impossible to get it back,” she added.
The ATO said that taxpayers should remain vigilant for other versions of the fake tax debt scam, warning that scams demanding payments into third-party bank accounts, via iTunes cards or with a pre-paid Visa gift cards are the most frequently reported to the ATO.
The ATO said it was also concerned about victims being tricked into sharing personal information, such as their Tax File Number with scammers.
“If you receive a phone call out of the blue, threatening police or legal action if you don’t pay a debt, or the person calling you is rude and aggressive, hang up, it won’t be the ATO,” the ATO said.
