Some Australians will be receiving a tax bonus payment soon (the $900 everyone’s talking about). Scammers have taken this opportunity to contact random people by phone and ask them for their bank account details.
The scam phone calls involve a story about the ATO or Centrelink needing their details to process the handout. They ask for the person’s name, date of birth, address, and bank account details.
Never give this information out to a random stranger who called you. If you submitted a tax return last year the ATO already has your details. If not, you should be the one contacting them (they won’t contact you) – get their phone number from the ATO web site.
The same goes for emails. The ATO or other government agencies will not send emails to you asking for your bank account details.