Media release

Police warn of tax scam calls

Police

Northern Territory Police are urging the public to be aware of tax scam calls.

In the past two days, some Alice Springs residents have attended Alice Springs Police Station to report they had scammers contacting them from multiple phone numbers. One of the numbers displayed as Alice Springs Police Station. The scam callers stated they were from the ‘Taxation Office’ and there were warrants out for the call recipients’ arrests. They then requested victims transfer large sums of money and threatened to send police to their locations. Similar reports have also been made to police in Darwin in recent days.

These phone calls are not from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) or Northern Territory Police.

Recipients of these phone calls are advised to ignore them. Do not provide personal details and do not to transfer money to any bank accounts.

As a result of these calls, a 37-year-old man transferred a sum of $12,000 to the scammer’s bank account. The NT Police Cybercrime Unit is investigating.

Anyone who receives these types of calls is urged to report them at Report Cyber at cyber.gov.au/. If you have suffered a financial loss through this type of fraud or other scams, report it to police on 131 444.

For information and advice on ATO scam alerts, go to https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-services/identity-security/scam-alerts/.