Australians are being fleeced out of thousands of dollars in a new phone scam threatening to arrest them over unpaid taxes
- Recorded 'final reminder' call claims to be from the Australian Tax Office
- Claims they must resolve 'tax violation' with ATO official they will be arrested
- More than $1 million was reaped from various ATO scams in just three months
Australians are being scammed out of thousands of dollars in a new phone scam threatening to arrest them over unpaid taxes.
The recorded message claiming to be from the Australian Tax Office warns the victim their 'violation' was dobbed in by an 'informant program'.
'This is a final reminder call from Australian Taxation Office,' the message recorded by Daily Mail Australia begins.
'Dear citizen, there is income tax violation report under your name through our ATO informant program.
'This is the final reminder to connect with ATO official to resolve tax debt and avoid additional penalties and subsequent arrest.'
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The victim is them asked to press 1 on their phone to immediately connect with an ATO official to resolve the situation.
An operator whose first language is not English then picks up and claims the victim and their family will be investigated by the ATO.
They demand thousands of dollars in payment on the spot to square the fake tax debt and hung up if it was clear the victim didn't believe them.
Australians are being scammed out of thousands of dollars in a new phone scam threatening to arrest them over unpaid taxes (stock image)
The total combined losses reported to Scamwatch and other government agencies exceeded $489 million - $149 million more than 2017
Previous ATO scams hoodwinked numerous people into handing over more than $1 million in just three months in November to late January, Scamwatch revealed.
An ACCC report found scam activity in Australia rose by 94 per cent over the past five years.
In November, reported ATO scams increased by more than 900 per cent.
'The ATO does not project our numbers using caller ID. You can be confident that if there is a number displayed in your caller ID, it isn't the ATO,' assistant tax commissioner Kath Anderson told Daily Mail Australia.
'If a taxpayer is unsure whether a call is genuinely from the ATO, hang up and call the ATO's dedicated scam reporting line on 1800 008 54O.'
