Much has been made of the Government’s $42bn stimulus package over the last few weeks. People earning under $100,000 are eligible for rebates of up to $900 each. The only catch? You must have completed your 2007/2008 tax return.
Enterprising cyber criminals will no doubt see this as an opportunity to fleece people of their personal details through a phishing scheme. The Australian Tax Office Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo has already stated “We are worried that unscrupulous people will use the interest surrounding the payments as an opportunity to try the usual scams”.
In the US, where similar plans are taking place a scam has already surfaced. Whilst this scam seems to be inactive currently, it looks like it was designed to encourage the recipient to download a trojan disguised as an application form. This simple trick could enable the trojan to be installed on your computer in the form of a key logger, spam server or other internet threat.
The ATO (or any other organisation for that matter) will never ask you to provide personal details via email. If you receive an email you are suspicious of, do not open it. Scams can be reported at http://www.scamwatch.gov.au. If you’re not sure about an email it is better to speak with the company affected (Such as the ATO) to check if it’s legitimate than to risk compromising your computers security.