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An increase in cyber crime has brought a surge of criminals lodging bogus tax returns on behalf of unsuspecting victims, HLB Mann Judd Perth has warned.
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Hackers circling Aussie TFNs, HLB Mann Judd cautions
29 November 2024
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HLB Mann Judd Perth has reminded Australians to be consistently aware of identity theft as hackers and scammers have become more sophisticated, now focused on targeting tax returns.
According to the firm, there was a surge in cyber crime where criminals accessed an individual’s tax file number (TFN) through MyGov.
Allegedly, hackers had then intercepted passports and drivers’ licence details through email to create a new bank account to amend returns to claim a tax refund, without the victim being aware.
HLB Mann Judd Perth partner, Litsa Christodulou, said foul play was detected by the firm across certain tax returns.
“Recently, we have become aware of attempts by brazen hackers who gained unauthorised access outside of HLB Mann Judd’s secure systems and attempted to lodge fake tax returns,” Christodulou said.
“We have even seen attempts to tamper with returns that had already been lodged. HLB Mann Judd has protected systems and processes around the personal information we receive.”
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“However, this may not be the case for smaller companies and individuals who share information via email or other digital means, as was the case with recent incidents.”
Following the influx of tax crime, the firm called for Australians to be protective of their TFN, as it acted as a digital fingerprint linked to the tax system, superannuation and investments.
Though the Tax Office was vigilant, TFN compromise was not about ATO security but rather having the right protections in place to protect identity theft, Christodulou added.
Christodulou said taxpayers should ensure they had a strong identity through MyGov to increase the chances of beating hackers.
This would entail not using the same passwords and utilising technology such as fingerprint and face identification.
“The consequences of having your TFN compromised could not only be costly but also make it harder to manage your interactions with the ATO,” she said.
“The ATO does not issue new tax file numbers, so in response to these threats they put in additional layers of security such as requiring verbal rather than online verification.”
“A breach can impact your use of MyGov ID, and also ends the pre-filling of data in tax returns or activity statements.”
Identity theft was a serious threat and TFN information should not be shared unless encrypted or password protected, the law firm added.
“If you think your TFN has been stolen, immediately advise the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the ATO, as well as your tax agent.”
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