Scammers love to take advantage of a crisis – now with the COVID-19 pandemic, they are targeting Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSF). The ATO has recently expressed concern over the new rise of Superannuation scams, specifically on SMSF.
The ATO has listed their biggest concerns to be entities who:
- Impersonate the ATO or other trusted organisations to try to steal your money or personal information
- Contact you to charge for services that are free through the ATO
Impersonators and scam artists can be tricky to avoid, thankfully, there’s a few things you can do to protect yourself.
How can I protect myself?
If you receive a phone call, text message, or email that you believe might not be genuine;
- Do not provide any of your personal information or click any links.
- Contact the ATO or organisation directly to confirm if the communication was genuine.
Thankfully, you won’t need to manage the threat on your own. The ATO has introduced an alert service to help protect self-managed super funds (SMSF) and reduce the risk of fraud. Introduced by the ATO earlier this year, a text and/or email alert will now be sent whenever changes are made to your SMSF. This includes changes to;
- Authorised contacts
- SMSF Members
- Financial institution account details
- Electronic service address.
If you receive a text or email alert, and you are not aware of any changes being made to your SMSF, the first step you should take is to contact:
- The other trustees or directors of the corporate trustee of your SMSF
- Any other representatives that are authorised to make changes to your SMSF
(for example; your registered tax agent)
If the changes were not made by authorised parties, or if you are concerned that these changes were made without your knowledge, you should contact the ATO directly. (For any issues regarding your Superannuation Fund, you can call the ATO’s Superannuation hotline 13 10 20)
If you suspect that your information may have been stolen and is being used without your permission, you should contact the ATO immediately on the Client Identity Support Centre number 1800 467 033.
The ATO has released a full comprehensive list of contact numbers to assist in all ATO related enquiries.
If you have any enquiries related to your Superannuation fund, or any other tax matter. You can contact us for a free consultation or speak with one of our Tax Champion professionals.
Source: ATO
