An 81-year-old Perth man nursing his ill wife has become one of the latest West Australian victims of the ATO scam by losing $110,000 to the fraudsters.
The loss has been listed by WA's consumer watchdog as the state's largest loss to the scam ever reported.
Consumer Protection issued another public warning about the scam on Tuesday after more victims came forward to report they had been contacted by people purporting to be from the Australian Taxation Office and demanding money.
The senior citizen told Consumer Protection he was contacted and threatened by the scammers who claimed they were from the government agency, that he owed money and he would be jailed if it was not paid immediately.
Consumer Protection commissioner Anne Driscoll said she was alarmed at the huge increase in the reported losses to the scam and the aggressive nature of the calls by "heartless and ruthless criminals".
"The ATO scam has been around for many years but I am disturbed that the scammers have now heightened their threatening tactics to coerce their victims into transferring money in order to pay fictitious tax bills or get fictitious refunds or rebates." Ms Driscoll said.
"The most recent tactic has been hostile threats of court action, an arrest warrant or even prison for tax evasion unless money is paid as soon as possible.
The money is usually asked to be sent by either bank transfer to an account likely to be opened with a stolen identity or belonging to a money mule, Load & Go card or by wire transfer services such as Western Union or Moneygram.
Ms Driscoll said the ATO would not ask for funds in an "aggressive" manner.
"If in doubt, contact the ATO independently to verify if the call was genuine, but don't use any contact numbers or email addresses provided by the caller," she said.
"This is the time of year when you may think a call from the ATO about your tax return is not unusual.
"Don't be tricked into transferring money for any reason. If you are unsure, ask for a written assessment to be posted to your home and remember that the tax office know who you are, so don't provide any information to callers."
Consumer Protection's advice:
• The ATO would never contact people in such an aggressive and demanding way and certainly wouldn't threaten jail or arrest you if you couldn't pay when contacted. Nor would the ATO demand that people load money onto a prepay card at the post office or ask you to send funds via wire transfer services.
• Generally the ATO would send an SMS and or letter to remind people that payment was due. If they don't get a response from this, they would then call to discuss payment of the outstanding debt.
• There are three simple steps people can take if they have any concerns or suspicions:
1. Confirm the caller's name and title and why they are calling.
2. Call the ATO switchboard on 13 28 69 and ask to be put through to the person who just called you.
3. Most importantly, never send money or give financial details to someone you don't know or trust.
For further information on scams visit www.scamnet.wa.gov.au or enquiries can be made by emailing wascamnet@commerce.wa.gov.au or calling 1300 30 40 54.
