CBA is encouraging Aussie taxpayers to stay alert during tax season, as new research¹ reveals almost a third fail to spot a tax scam. When multiple tax phishing scams were tested with Australians over the age of 18, only 69 per cent could successfully identify all of them.
Interestingly, nine in 10 believed they were confident they could spot a fake SMS or email.
The research also showed around one in four Australians have been exposed to a tax-related scam. As millions of people wait for a tax return over the next few months, scammers will be keen to capitalise on the moment.
SMS phishing scammers impersonate myGov and the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to "phish" for personal information, including bank card details. The link within the SMS will take the recipient to a fake website, which might look very real. There will be a place to enter their card details and then this unfortunately allows access to their money.
According to the National Anti-Scam Centre (NASC), phishing was the top reported scam type, followed by false billing scams, and identity theft.²
James Roberts, CBA's General Manager of Group Fraud, said: "While it's encouraging to see a majority of Aussies were confidently able to spot scams when tested, concerningly almost a third didn't correctly spot all of them. As a nation, we've made good inroads into reducing the impact of scams, but we all need to stay vigilant and across the latest scam trends.
