ATO’s top tips for Scams Awareness Week

If you could only do 3 things to protect yourself from scammers this tax time, start with these tips.

Tax time is in full swing and so are the scammers! Their aim? To trick you into handing over your personal information so they can steal your identity and commit fraud in your name.

Scams Awareness Week is from 25–29 August 2025. It’s a great reminder to stop and take a sec to check it’s really us contacting you. ATO knows you’re busy, juggling multiple deadlines, but scammers plan on you being distracted.

Do these 3 things to help protect yourself:

1. Don’t be fooled by emails and texts with QR codes or links to an online portal that claim to be about your tax – that’s a scammer trying to steal your personal information.
2. When checking the status of your tax return or using online services, always type the URL into your web browser – don’t click a link in a message.
3. Make sure you protect your TFN, ABN and myID/RAM login details. Never give out your personal information to anyone unless they genuinely need it.

If you think a phone call, SMS, voicemail, email or social media interaction claiming to be from the ATO is not genuine, do not engage with it. You should:

• go to verify or report a scam to see how to spot and report a scam, or
• if you have divulged information or paid a scammer money, phone the ATO immediately on 1800 008 540.

Learn more at ato.gov.au/scamsafe.

Keep up to date

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• Explore more articles in our Small business newsroom.
• Subscribe to our free monthly Small business email newsletterExternal Link.
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Source: ATO