“One of the most alarming incidents is that scammers are using fake job advertisements to illegally access people’s personal information,” said Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo.

“Bogus job ads are being posted on recruitment websites by scammers where people are being asked to provide their tax file numbers (TFN) as a part of their job application.”

In some cases, people have even been offered the advertised position and then asked to provide their TFN and bank account details prior to the start date of employment and after providing this personal information, the job offer has then been withdrawn.

ATO investigations have shown that the advertised positions never existed and those running the scams generally communicate by email or mobile phones.

“You should not provide a prospective employer with personal details, such as your tax file number or bank account details until after you begin work in the position,” said Mr D’Ascenzo.

“Personal information can be used by scammers to lodge false tax returns in your name, enable the use of your credit cards or even result in people taking out a loan in your name. In some cases, identity crime can take years to resolve.

“This year there have been over 6,000 reports from the community about bogus e-mails using the ATO brand, and over 4,000 reports of attempted phone scams. At this time of year when many people expect refunds, scammers use the opportunity to pretend to be from the ATO.”

Only certain people and organisations can ask for your TFN, the most common being:

• the ATO
• when discussing your tax recordsyour employer, but only after you start work
• your bank or other financial institution
• Centrelink
• your superannuation fund.

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“Those who are caught face extremely serious penalties including criminal conviction, significant fines and imprisonment,” Ms Granger said.

“Even if penalties do not include jail time a criminal conviction will mean a permanent criminal record. As well as disqualifying you from many kinds of employment this can impact on other areas of your life including restricting travel to some countries.

“For the quarter 1 July to 30 September 356 people and 122 companies were prosecuted and convicted of taxation and superannuation offences. During this period twelve people received custodial sentences, ranging from two months to five years.

“Refund fraud continues to be a focus for us. We utilise leading technology, sophisticated national and international networks and community intelligence to catch those who are doing the wrong thing.

“It is not a matter of if, but when we find you. Ask yourself: is doing the wrong thing really worth the risk?”

Recently a Sydney man with a background in commerce was sentenced to five years jail for deliberately lodging 41 false income tax returns totalling $180,000.

However it doesn’t have to be large scale to attract our attention.

Earlier this year, a Sydney fencing contractor who made false statements in his business activity statements was fined $18,000 and ordered to pay an additional $17,319 to the Commissioner.

“Providing false or misleading information to the ATO is a criminal offence. If you do the crime, you will face the consequences; and they can be significant,” Ms Granger said.

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