Northern Territory Police are urging Territorians to be wary of a phone scam operating across the NT, where callers are pretending to be from the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

The scam has been operating across Australia for some time, with a steady increase in reported incidents across the Territory over the past three months.  

NT Police have noticed a particular increase in the number of reports over the past five days.

Reports suggest the scam callers can be aggressive, and attempt to force people to pay a fake tax debt over the phone by threatening arrest if they don’t comply.

The scammers often require payment though unusual methods such as Prepaid debit cards, iTunes cards or direct transfers to private bank accounts.

 Police advise the public never to make any financial transfers unless they are certain of the legitimacy of the request. Details on legitimate ATO payment methods can be found on https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Payments-to-ATO/How-to-pay/.

If people receive a call from the ATO and are concerned about providing personal information over the phone, they should ask for the caller’s name and phone them back via the ATO on 1800 008 540. This number can also be used if people think they may have fallen victim to a phone scam.

For more information or examples of recent scams visit the ATO website or http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/.

The ATO have an audio file regarding this subject at the following link:

https://www.ato.gov.au/Media-centre/Video-and-audio-files/ATO-scam-warnings-for-radio/

If you believe you have fallen victim to a scam please contact scamwatch on 1300 795 995 or report online to ACORN www.acorn.gov.au