REPORTS of more West Australians falling victim to the ATO scam have escalated in recent weeks, prompting another urgent warning from Consumer Protection.
In the latest case, an 81-year-old Perth man who is nursing his ill wife has lost $110,000 to the scam, the largest loss to this type of scam ever reported in WA.
He was contacted and threatened by scammers claiming to be from the Australian Taxation Office saying he owed money and would be jailed if it was not paid immediately.
Threats were also made regarding the potential loss of employment of his three children.
The man was harassed and threatened over a three week period since the beginning of June.
During this time he made up to 15 separate payments by bank transfers and wire transfers via MoneyGram.
He became suspicious when he refused to pay a further demand for $32,000 and the amount was then discounted to $15,000.
This case brings the total reported losses to the ATO scam so far this year to more than $157,000, with Consumer Protection receiving 866 enquiries about the scam.
The vast majority of the enquiries and loss reports were received in the past two months with 328 enquiries and $20,586 in losses reported in May and 393 enquiries and $127,635 losses reported in June.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll is alarmed at the huge increase in the reported losses to this scam and the aggressive nature of the calls.
“I am concerned that the increasingly threatening nature of the ATO scam calls is intimidating many in our community, including seniors, with the urgent demands forcing victims to respond and lose their money to these heartless and ruthless criminals,” Ms Driscoll said.
“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.
“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 never ask for funds in this 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.
For more information visit scamnet.wa.gov.au
