With the recent reports of Geraldton residents falling prey to certain online scams, we felt it worthy to issue a warning to watch out for this one.

You may receive an email from someone pretending to represent the ATO (Australian Taxation Office).

It may read something along these lines:

We at the Australian Taxation Office would like to inform you that, you have qualified for 2013, subsidy benefit.

Simply reply to this secure message with the following details below and you will be notified shortly.

Family Name:
Given Name/s:
Address:
Suburb/Town:
State/Territory:
Postcode:
Tax File Number:
Date of Birth (DD/MM/YYYY):
Telephone Number:

Please disregard this message if you have already mailed your response.
©2013 Commonwealth of Australia | Australian Taxation Office

Never send your personal information to a company that has contacted you by email, whether it is a bank, the ATO or any other company you may or may not be familiar with.

Also, do not click a link in a suspicious looking email. One trick scammers like to pull is to email you pretending to be your bank, provide a link that LOOKS like the banks website, get you to enter your information and then capture that information to rob you.

Please take care and if you ever have any doubt, do not click a link, open an email or provide any information.

Thank you to our users who alerted us to this current ATO scam. (Although some of you may feel even the real ATO is a scam. )