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Hup(Newbie)Newbie
13 July 2024

I have been mentally drained by accessing ATO online to lodged my tax return.


I was registered IDcare to protect my account due to data breach at time Optus has cyberattack. I was on the phone with the ATO service desk yesterday to permanently lift the ban due to my work availability and time zone concern. I was advised that I have been permanently lift the ban, turns out I have been locked and I cannot proceed with tax return.


I have registered passphrase and MFA to protect my account, I am pretty confident that my account is secured.


What can I do to have this remediated? Every time I called, took me at least an hour in the queue and go through security questions.

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3 replies
263 views
3 replies

Most helpful response

Most helpful reply

TamaraATO(Community Support)Community Support
14 July 2024

Hello @Hup


Sure


A quick question.


Were you on the phone to the general line or did you get transferred to our specialist area that deal with these kinds of situations?


People on the general line are not able to lift these security measures.


They may have created an activity for your request to have it perm removed.


If you were talking to our Client Identity Support Centre, they do have the access to lift it.


Did it say you are locked out, or that you're not authorised to access?

If it was the second one, then your security is still in place/hasn't yet been lifted.

If it just says locked out, it may have been from too many tries and was just for a certain amount of time.


Our CISC team are the ones to contact for this request.


All replies

Most helpful reply

TamaraATO(Community Support)Community Support
14 July 2024

Hello @Hup


Sure


A quick question.


Were you on the phone to the general line or did you get transferred to our specialist area that deal with these kinds of situations?


People on the general line are not able to lift these security measures.


They may have created an activity for your request to have it perm removed.


If you were talking to our Client Identity Support Centre, they do have the access to lift it.


Did it say you are locked out, or that you're not authorised to access?

If it was the second one, then your security is still in place/hasn't yet been lifted.

If it just says locked out, it may have been from too many tries and was just for a certain amount of time.


Our CISC team are the ones to contact for this request.


Hup(Newbie)Newbie
15 July 2024

Hello,


Thanks for your swift response.


I talked to the Identity team last week, and he said the ban has been lifted successfully.


I called today, and the person told me we were still in the escalation process. He wasn't able to give me an answer when, but he said it would take days to lift the ban.


I give up because it takes a lot of my time and energy to ask for the same thing, and I have completed my tax return. I will call again after this week to lift my restriction and check for the progress.


I would hope they lift the ban although he told me there will not be notification for the outcome. I hope this can improve as it is not good enough to tell someone I wont be able to know the result unless I keep trying.

Simon-Gippsland(Initiate)Initiate
22 Feb 2025

I'm sorry you have to deal with the big frustration. I also have this same issue. It's been several years, and they told me they would lift the ban, but then a few days later I am banned from my own account again. Incredibly frustrating, and makes paying tax ("doing the right thing") very difficult.

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