Be aware there are (at least) two email scams operating at
the moment, with one especially relevant during the income tax period.
Australian Taxation
Office scam
A resident in our area received this ‘Australian Taxation
Office’ refund email. Apart from the fact the resident hadn’t submitted his tax
return yet, anyone who had received a tax refund previously would be aware that
refunds are paid by cheque or direct debit into your nominated bank account. You’ll
also notice the email is only address ‘Hello’ and not to the specific person.
If you receive this one, do not click
on the ‘Refund’ hyperlink and delete it immediately.
Telstra refund scam
alert
There have been a few variations of the ‘Telstra Account’
scam circulating by email. Below is the ‘refund version’ of the email scam.
Firstly, you will only receive a Telstra bill/refund if you are a Telstra customer. Secondly, all Telstra accounts are addressed personally to the account holder, not ‘Dear Valued Consumer’. Do not click on the bill hyperlink or the ‘Log into My Account’ button and delete it immediately.
There are a number of email scams operating, which are
transmitted through infected computers. If you receive an email from a bank,
government agency or business you do not have an account with, delete it
immediately. If you do deal with a bank, government agency or business, check
the account details with records you hold to determine if the email is
genuine.
If you still can’t decide, locate the organisation’s
telephone number in the telephone book or by Yellow Pages online and call.
Finally, government
agencies and businesses do not demand payment in Bitcoins,
iTunes cards or gift cards. If you think the call or email may be fake,
hang up or delete it.
