ELDERLY Gippslanders have been warned of an Australian Taxation Office scam currently making its rounds.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said his office had received reports from locals who had been phoned by people posing as ATO officials offering to reimburse taxes in the order of $5000 if a deposit of about $100 is made through Australia Post.
Mr Chester urged anyone who received a call relating to ATO reimbursement to hang up immediately and report it to SCAMwatch.
“These callers mislead local residents and deliberately target the elderly in our community to try and dupe them out of their money,” Mr Chester said.
“If anyone does receive a phone call offering an extraordinary refund from the ATO they should hang up and report it to SCAMwatch immediately.”
Mr Chester said ATO refund scams were also currently circulating via email.
“There are emails offering refunds which link to a bogus website asking for personal and credit card details,” Mr Chester said.
“The ATO will never email you seeking personal or credit card details and you should never provide this information.”
SCAMwatch can be contacted online by logging on to www.scamwatch.gov.au or by phone on 1300 795 995.
