A more serious tone for this week’s post. We want to implore you to be on the lookout for scams.
Roughly 2.8 million Australians have been impacted by cyber crime in the past year and it’s only getting worse now that COVID has pushed everyone further online.
Every tax time, there are people who try to take advantage of you. This is often through emails which look like they come from MyGov or the ATO, linking you to a website just similar enough that you don’t notice. If you receive any emails from these government organisations, one way to ensure you are staying safe is to avoid clicking links and log in using a brand new web page.
Victims are rarely able to recover financial losses from cyber crime, so please be careful.
Scammers might also call your phone and create a sense of urgency by saying that your device has been compromised and that you must download certain software. If this happens to you, please do not be taken in. Report the attempted scam to the ACCC.
If you think the call is legitimate, tell them you will ring back. Independently source the organisation’s details and contact them. Do not click on any links.
Last year, the ATO was the most commonly impersonated government agency, with 96,220 scams reported to the Tax Office. Nearly 500 people lost a collective $2.4 million to such scams. If you are in doubt about any communication from the ATO, please do reach out to us.
If you’re waiting to hear from us about COVID-19 grants, please be assured that we are working on them. There are huge delays as Service NSW work through the many requests. We will let you know as soon as we know.