As the financial year ends, NAB is warning hard-working Australians to watch out for ATO impersonation scams.

Since October 2018, NAB has added more than 50 people to its fraud and scams team and cracked down on spoofing scams that impersonate NAB's phone numbers and infiltrate text message threads.

In 2022-23, the ATO received nearly 20,000 tax scam reports. 360 monthly reports.

Pre- and post-June 30 ATO impersonation scams are expected to rise.

Tessa Bowles, NAB's Scam Awareness Lead, advised Australians to recognise tax scams.

"Criminals are thinking about getting your tax returns," Ms. Bowles said.

“Current cost of living pressures mean tax returns will be front of mind for many Australians hoping for a refund, and no one ever wants to lose their hard-earned money to criminals. Thus, awareness is crucial.

Criminals often demand a processing fee or personal information to release your tax refund in these scams.

“Scammers may also try to convince victims they owe taxes and must pay to avoid arrest.”

Scammers impersonating the ATO usually use text and email.

“The number of phone calls impersonating the ATO in June last year was double the monthly average,” said Ms Bowles, a security educator for nearly a decade.

“These phone calls can be aggressive and threatening, but the ATO will never threaten immediate arrest.

The best defense against tax scams is a curious and educated Australian.

"Never feel pressured into making a payment, and contact your bank immediately if you suspect a scam."

NAB offers free security webinars for individuals, businesses, and the community. The one-hour session covers scams, cyber security trends, and how to protect yourself.

Meanwhile. ANZ Bank recently announced several new measures to protect customers and the community from scams and other financial crimes.

ANZ Head of Customer Protection Shaq Johnson said: “Our investment in new technologies is critical as we continue to protect our customers and the community from fraud and scams.”

ANZ is continually reviewing and adjusting its capabilities to keep customers safe as new scams emerge and scammers change how they operate. ANZ’s newest measures include:

• The deployment of more than 170 new sophisticated algorithms that have helped to prevent $20m of customer scam losses across multiple payment channels.

• A significant investment in a new capability using AI and Machine Learning technology designed to detect accounts being used to receive funds from scam victims. Known as ‘mule accounts’, ANZ’s pilot of this technology has detected nearly 1400 high risk accounts since April 2023.

• Preventing payments being made to particular high risk cryptocurrency platforms and introducing new holds and delays to some payment types and destinations.

• Working with the major telcos to activate the Do Not Originate (DNO) service and to put in place measures that stop scammers from adopting the “ANZ” label in text messages. Known as SMS spoofing, scammers purport to be sending an SMS from a legitimate organisation, which has been a common criminal tactic across Australia in recent months.

As new scams emerge and scammers change their methods, we review and update our prevention and detection security settings.

Scammers aren't new. Our advances help us protect customers from scams.

Scammers quickly try to open new avenues after we close one. We spend millions on new tech. We saved $61 million from cybercriminals over the past nine months.

“Scam prevention requires a community response, and while banks play a critical role, customers need to protect themselves and be extremely vigilant and suspicious of unsolicited contact,” Mr. Johnson said.

Scammers are becoming more sophisticated and targeting people of all ages. The most prevalent scams are those involving remote computer and device access, then investment, romance, and inheritance scams.

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