I received an email stating
Dear Taxpayer,
We are holding your refund because you have outstanding obligations. We can release your refund when you complete your outstanding obligations online.
”complete outstanding obligations”
Regards
The myTax team
is this a scam or not because i am currently unsure anymore as i have been receiving a lot of scam emails from people pretending to be the ATO
Sounds like a scam, @mak.elisabeth ! The ATO will never send an email with a clickable link and I presume that's what you implied you've seen beneath ”complete outstanding obligations”.
To stay safe - with any organisation (ATO, banks, utility companies, insurance, etc.) - always call them or log in to their portals to contact them. Don't use links in emails or SMSs. In the case of the ATO, go to myGov and you'll see any legitimate correspondence there.
https://www.ato.gov.au/online-services/scams-cyber-safety-and-identity-protection/scam-alerts
Sounds like a scam, @mak.elisabeth ! The ATO will never send an email with a clickable link and I presume that's what you implied you've seen beneath ”complete outstanding obligations”.
To stay safe - with any organisation (ATO, banks, utility companies, insurance, etc.) - always call them or log in to their portals to contact them. Don't use links in emails or SMSs. In the case of the ATO, go to myGov and you'll see any legitimate correspondence there.
https://www.ato.gov.au/online-services/scams-cyber-safety-and-identity-protection/scam-alerts
@Knaresbro is spot on, we don't include links in our emails or text messages. So, don't click links or download attachments in emails even if it appears to come from us.
And that's a great tip to log into online services directly.
22 Apr 2024 · 6 min read time
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