The Australian Tax Office wants people to be on alert for scammers using sophisticated methods to extract money from their victims. The ATO says fraudsters engaging in phone scams are using software to produce a seemingly legitimate phone number to disguise their true identity. Last month alone, it says, scammers stole more than 800,000 dollars.
During the scam attempts, what looks like an Australian phone number might appear on caller ID on your phone as a pre-recorded, computer-generated voice message plays. Assistant Tax Commissioner Kath Anderson says the A-T-O doesn't allow its own phone numbers to appear on caller ID and, if its staff do call people, they don't threaten them with immediate arrest. Professor of Cyber Security at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Dave Lacey says the criminals making the calls hope their potential victims will respond out of fear.
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