This morning my landline rang and it was a recorded message from a man purporting to be from the Australian Tax Office.
The person claimed that I was under investigation for tax fraud and an arrest warrant was going to be issued if I didn’t ring this 02 number immediately and sort it out. He seemed to be an Indian with an American accent and the wording was very strong with the intention of scaring an unwary person who possibly would not be aware that it is a scam into paying a fee.
Even though it appeared that it was a Sydney number it would be likely a VOIP number. I was advised that I could involve my attorney which normally Aussies would just say lawyer and it talks about the Australian Taxation Office Headquarters, another red flag as we don’t describe the ATO as Headquarters. Biggest flag of all is that the ATO wouldn’t be recording messages and sending them to your phone nor use such threatening language!
Just last week I had a friend talk about a phone call her elderly parents received while she was in their home. Luckily she took the call and realised it was a scam but said it was scary that they knew her father’s personal details and where he had worked in the eighties. Had her elderly parents received this call and been advised that there was a warrant for their arrest if they didn’t pay these fines there’s no telling how it would affect them. The caller told her that he would be sending the police around in thirty minutes, if her father didn’t speak to him. She of course refused and hung up.
If you have elderly parents, advise them to not send money via wire transfer nor give their personal, credit card or online account details over the phone, don’t engage with them, just hang up! These are the vulnerable people that they target so get the word out.