Fraudulent emails about Tax Refunds - SSO-AL2009-026

23 June 2009

Software and platform affected

None.

What is the problem?

New fraudulent emails are circulating which pretend to be from the Australian Tax Office. The subject of the email is designed to trick you into providing personal information as a precursor to receiving a tax refund.

The subject lines of the email include, but are not limited to:

Cut Off Taxes Program (COTP) has been released - Join Now

The from lines of the email include, but are not limited to:

"Australian Taxation Office" <janell@gmail.com>

This is a scam.

The emails may include links to web sites that attempt to trick you into supplying personal details.

Providing the information requested is likely to mean that your personal and/or business information may be accessed for fraudulent or illegal purposes.

What we recommend you do

If you receive an email similar to this one, do not reply or click on the links in the email.

If you have provided personal information that includes your credit card or bank account information in response to an email request regarding this matter, the information you supplied has been captured by a criminal. Please notify your bank and the ATO.

Where you can find more information

Further information about detecting and preventing being fooled by phishing attacks is here:

http://www.ssoalertservice.net.au/view/8b0c49154bcea355a3b1114309ba8009

The Australian Taxation office has produced the following article on the phishing scam:

http://www.ato.gov.au/corporate/content.asp?doc=/content/00198056.htm

Disclaimer

This Alert has been prepared by AusCERT for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

The information is intended for used by home users and small to medium sized businesses and is general information only and not intended as advice and was accurate and up to date at the time of publishing. The material and information in this Alert is not adapted to any particular person's circumstances and therefore cannot be relied upon to be of assistance in any particular case. In any important matter, you should seek professional advice relevant to your own circumstances.

The Commonwealth, AusCERT, and all other persons associated with this Alert accept no responsibility or liability for information either included or referred to in the Alert. No responsibility or liability is accepted for any damage, loss or expense incurred as a result of the information contained in the Alert, whether by way of negligence or otherwise.

The listing of a person or organisation in any part of this site or Alert does not imply any form of endorsement by the Commonwealth of the products or services provided by that person or organisation. Similarly, links to other web sites have been inserted for your convenience and do not constitute endorsement of material at those sites, or any associated organisation, product or service.

Please note that material in this Alert, as the case may be, includes views or recommendations of third parties, which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth, or indicate its commitment to particular course of action. Material on this site or in this Alert may also include information provided by third parties. The Commonwealth cannot verify the accuracy of information that has been provided by third parties.