ATO Warns Of Danger To Tax Security From Cyber Crime

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

31 August 2009

Australia’s Assistant Treasurer, Nick Sherry, has referred to an Australian Taxation Office (ATO) submission to a Parliamentary inquiry highlighting the growing dangers of cyber crime.

While there were dangers to the financial and tax security of individual Australians and also to government agencies, the Assistant Treasurer reassured that there is a wide range of actions underway to educate the community and crack down on such illegal behaviour.

"There has been a 31% increase in recent years in scammers and hackers targeting the Tax Office's computer systems," Nick Sherry said. "These incidents include attempts to phish for information and malicious software attacks, such as viruses and trojans."

"In addition, a number of email scams claiming to offer a Tax Office refund have been phishing for individual victims," he continued. "More than 90 per cent of tax returns are lodged electronically and the use of the internet by taxpayers is continuing to grow - so everyone should be aware of the potential dangers."

He added that "some tax phishing scams are quite sophisticated - one recent case from a server based in the Ukraine lured victims by a bogus website that looked identical to the ATO website."

The ATO was said to have put in place a wide range of initiatives to counter financial and tax cyber crime including the innovative use of internet banner ads during relevant Google word searches and direct email advice to domestic and international students. Since 1 July 2008, it was disclosed, ATO has successfully finalised 35 prosecutions - resulting in 29 custodial sentences and AUD1.5m (USD1.25m) in reparation orders.

"The Tax Office is well resourced with specialist IT staff dedicated to the detection and follow-up of cyber crime," said Nick Sherry. "The Tax Office places a heavy emphasis on prevention of cyber crime and is actively involved in educating internet users about the potential risks."

In particular, it was emphasised that ATO emails or SMS messages will never ask for anybody’s personal information, such as credit card details, tax file number, date of birth or passwords. If an individual felt that they might have been the victim or attempted target of a financial or tax cyber crime, they were advised to contact ATO as soon as possible.

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