MyCRA Specialist Credit Repair Lawyers

Tag: ATO

  • Protect Your Personal Information To Prevent Identity Theft

    Identity crime

    (As seen on the ATO’s website)
    Your personal information is the key to your identity.
    Protecting your personal information is just as important as locking your front door.
    Do you know what you need to protect and how? Watch the ATO’s video and make protecting your personal information part of your day.

     

    Here is the full transcript for the video:

    Your personal information, like your identity – is unique. You use it to verify who you are and to access things like bank accounts, loans and tax returns.

    Protecting your personal information is important. But do you know what to protect?

    Personal information includes your name, address, date of birth, credit card details, myGov details, tax file number and driver’s licence details.

    Without proper protection your personal information can be stolen. For example, a scammer might use a fake job recruitment process to ask for information like your tax file number. Scammers can also email you, knock on your door and collect your details via online ‘classifieds’.

    Like locking up your house or covering your pin at the ATM, make protecting your personal information part of your day. Here are a few simple tips to follow:

    • firstly, don’t put your tax file number on your resume and only give it to an employer after you’ve started a job
    • never share your tax file number on social media
    • if your relationship status changes, think about changing any passwords you shared, and
    • if you’re going to use a tax agent, make sure they’re registered.

    Go to ato.gov.au/identitycrime for more tips.

    Protect your personal information and you’ll protect yourself.

  • ‘TAX REFUND NOTIFICATION’ Don’t get caught out with this scam at tax time.

    tax refund notificationA high priority alert has just been issued from Stay Smart Online in regards to malware-carrying emails supposedly from the Australian Taxation Office, which could send your credit file into the doghouse. Most people who regularly read this blog will probably be well aware of the high prevalence of scam emails designed to capture your financial details either directly or through malware. They would also be well aware of the dangers that can pose for your ability to obtain credit in your own right if fraudsters steal your identity and pose as you to take out credit in your name. But we feel it is important to remain vigilant in warning the community when such emails are on the increase. They could just catch out someone you know. So we look at the details on this email and its variants, and what dangers it poses for the financial information of ordinary Australians.

     

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repair and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    Today Stay Smart Online (the government’s online safety website) issued a warning about cyber criminals taking advantage of the upcoming tax deadline for filing tax returns by launching thousands of scam emails. The emails are purporting to be from the ATO, but contain malware which can steal your personal information.

    Security firm Bitdefender reported the detection of three email spam campaigns in late July and early August that saw up to 10,000 spam emails sent on 6 August. This surpassed the 3,000 messages sent on 23 July and the 5,000 messages sent on 15 July.

    “This sort of malicious outbreak is expected to continue heavier and more targeted as the tax time approaches its deadline in October,” a Bitdefender advisory warned. “Attackers hope their targets are too concerned with their financial duties to double check the sender’s address and discover the con.”

    If your system is infected by the malware in these messages, private data such as passwords and logins for financial institutions can be stolen and distributed to cyber criminals who will exploit it for financial gain.

    If your computer becomes infected, not only can personal information be stolen, but malware may force the computer to join a global ‘botnet’ that uses thousands of slave computers to distribute further malware-laden emails—or it might take part in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Among other things, this can seriously reduce the effective speed of a home Internet connection.

    What the emails look like…

    Most common spam emails

    ‘Australian Taxation Office – Refund Notification’, with body text including ‘TAX REFUND NOTIFICATION’. It instructs you to open an attachment called ‘ATO_TAX_pokeefe.zip’ or similar. The attachment is typically malware.

    ‘New information regarding lodgement’ and suggests that the ATO has been attempting to refund a payment to “the credit card we have on file.” Recipients are advised to log into an ‘e-portal’ to receive the refund manually, and that “during the payment process you will be given the opportunity to update the credit card that is on record.”

    Important Information…

    The ATO will never ask for such information via email. Any email that requests additional information before a refund can be released is a hoax.

    If you receive a message like this, do not under any circumstances open the attachment. Delete the message immediately. Never open attachments that arrive with these sorts of messages.

     

    Identity theft and your credit file

    Identity theft can lead to fraud, and can affect your credit file. It often goes undetected until the victim applies for credit and is refused.

    Any kind of credit account (from mortgages and credit cards through to mobile phone accounts) which remains unpaid past 60 days can be listed as a default by creditors on the victim’s credit rating, and those defaults remain there for 5 years.

    The consequence of people having a black mark on their credit rating is generally an inability to obtain credit.  Most of the major banks refuse credit to people who have defaults, or even too many credit enquiries, so it is really essential to keep a clean credit record.

    If you think your identity has been stolen, or that your personal information has been compromised there are three things you should do to protect your credit file:

    1. Contact Police immediately

    2. Contact the credit reporting agencies which hold your credit file.

    3. Contact your Credit Providers – especially financial institutions.

    If you think your tax file number has been stolen, you can visit the ATO’s Client Identity Support Centre for more help. They also give comprehensive advice on what to do in different situations of theft of your personal information.

    By law in Australia, if a listing contains inconsistencies the credit file holder has the right to negotiate their amendment or removal.

    But to clear their good name, the identity theft victim needs to prove to creditors they did not initiate the credit – which can be difficult. Not only are victims generally required to produce police reports, but large amounts of documentary evidence to substantiate to creditors the case of identity theft.

    Contact www.mycra.com.au for more details on credit repair following identity theft.

    Image: Stuart Miles/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Has your tax file number been given out to debt collectors?

    If you have a tax bill you haven’t paid – be aware your tax file number may have been given out to debt collectors contracted by the Australian Tax Office. This is despite the recent warnings from the ATO that compromised tax file numbers are leading to identity theft. We look at the story behind this recent revelation and report on the prevalence of tax file number – related identity crime. Identity theft can lead to credit fraud which can leave you in debt and with bad credit history.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    The Herald Sun reported yesterday in their story ‘Debt collection agents given tax file numbers’ that the ATO gives out the tax file numbers of consumers whose debt they are referring to debt collection agencies. The numbers are used for identification purposes.

    “THE tax file numbers of Australians are being passed on to contracted third-party debt collection agencies by the Australian Tax Office, despite the ATO claiming compromised tax file numbers are leading to identity theft,” the lead in states.

    This surprising revelation comes after the Herald Sun revealed this month there had been a surge in compromised tax file numbers. See last week’s post ‘Over 23,000 accounts of tax file number identity theft last year.’

    The newspaper published data from the Australian Taxation Office showing over 23,300 Australians had their tax file number compromised in the 2012 financial year. This was up from 22,000 last year.

    Likewise, ATO’s August campaign involved urging consumers to keep their tax file numbers safe to avoid identity theft. They revealed that scams such as fake job ads and bogus ATO emails were leading to compromised tax file numbers and identity theft. Here is an excerpt from their media release ‘Scammers target job seekers’ with comment from Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo:

    “Personal information can be used by scammers to lodge false tax returns in your name, enable the use of your credit cards or even result in people taking out a loan in your name. In some cases, identity crime can take years to resolve.”

    This year there have been over 6,000 reports from the community about bogus e-mails using the ATO brand, and over 4,000 reports of attempted phone scams.

    At this time of year when many people expect refunds, scammers use the opportunity to pretend to be from the ATO.”
    Only certain people and organisations can ask for your TFN, the most common being:

    • the ATO, when discussing your tax records
    • your employer, but only after you start work
    • your bank or other financial institutions
    • Centrelink, and
    • your superannuation fund.

    It was not mentioned which people and organisations are commonly recipients of Australian tax file numbers.

    ATO response on tax file number referral

    The ATO told the Herald Sun that contractors use the numbers for identification purposes only and said there is no risk because strict security requirements are placed on them.

    Here is an excerpt from the Herald Sun story:

    Four companies are contracted to do debt collection for the ATO and only two responded to queries from the Herald Sun asking about security arrangements or how many staff would have access to public tax file numbers.

    The ATO stated: “The four debt collection agencies we use are subject to strict security and privacy provisions as part of their contract. Any breach could nullify the contract and result in prosecution.

    “No taxpayer information, including tax file numbers, is to be sent overseas.”

    The ATO added that every two years it checked the premises and IT systems of third-party debt collection companies, and the last checks were done between July and October this year with no major risks or breaches identified.

    But the country’s biggest accountancy body has expressed concerns about the use of tax file numbers when not necessary.

    “If the tax office is sharing TFNs with third parties, regardless of the contractual arrangement, then there is a concern and a great risk … that the information is distributed, that the information could be misused somewhere along the line,” CPA Australia head of tax Paul Drum said.

    “In that regard, it seems unusual that the Tax Office would need to provide a TFN when the information provided to the debt collectors includes a claims reference number anyway.”

    Whilst the security checks employed by the ATO seem acceptable, I too question the requirement for sharing of this crucial financial information to outside bodies if not absolutely necessary.

    In this day and age when instances of identity fraud are reportedly on the rise, and becoming more sophisticated by the day; when we are urged by Government, by law enforcement, by banks, even by the ATO to regard our personal information as a valuable commodity – it seems unusual that the policy for sharing this crucial financial information still remains in place.

    Identity crime and your credit file

    Compromised personal information in any form is a big threat to our credit file health.

    If fraudsters get hold of your identity information they can duplicate it, and attempt to take credit out in your name. If successful, they can borrow anything from credit cards, mobile phones, cars, even mortgage properties. They are never so kind as to pay that debt back – so your credit file, your good name is left compromised and you are left with debt you didn’t initiate.

    It can be difficult to correct any credit file discrepancy – but identity crime can be even more difficult to remove from your credit history – because you have to prove – somehow – that you didn’t initiate the credit in the first place. This can involve evidence that you may or may not have. You may not be able to get any documentation, and also the identity theft could have occurred long before you find out about it.

    If you find out any personal information is compromised, or you know you are the victim of identity theft, the best place to go first if the Police.

    Once you are in a position to try to recover your good credit history, a Police report will go a long way to proving your innocence.

    Police may also advise you of other avenues open to you as well as an identity theft victim, such as requesting a Victims of Commonwealth Identity Crime Certificate.

    If you need help recovering your credit file health for whatever reason, contact a Credit Repair Advisor on 1300 667 218 or for more information visit the MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs website www.mycra.com.au.

    Image: Arvind Balaraman/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Over 23,000 accounts of tax file number identity theft last year

    Numbers just out from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) may help to demonstrate the prevalence of identity theft attempts in Australia, and show the valuable commodity that personal information has become. Personal information in the wrong hands can be used to steal your tax refund, rob your bank accounts, leave you in debt, and threaten the next 5 years of your life through bad credit history.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

    The ATO has confirmed 23,300 Australians had their tax file number compromised in the 2012 financial year.

    This is up from 22,000 the previous year.

    CPA Australia head of taxation Paul Drum has said the delay in many tax refunds has been due to manual checking of the validity of the refund – and he revealed it is “quite often showing up as identity fraud.”

    The ATO told the Herald Sun it was working hard to combat identity theft, including information matching tools, data mining techniques and fraud models to detect potential fraud and limit the potential benefits of identity takeover.

    This type of personal information is being sought out by criminals often via online methods as a less risky route to stealing money than more traditional face-to-face methods. Theft of personal information can lead to tax fraud, and it can also lead to credit fraud, as reported in the Herald Sun:

    “A stolen tax file number can be used to lodge fraudulent tax returns or take out credit cards and loans, with the resulting credit rating damage sometimes taking years to fix,” it was reported.

    CPA’S Mr Drum offers an explanation as to the cause of the rise in numbers:

    “The fact that it’s so prevalent, it would seem to be more internet-based than something that’s physically done by going door to door, getting people’s private records from their mailboxes or from business offices or that type of thing,” Mr Drum said.

    “We think a lot of it is by computer hacking over the internet – that people are tricked into providing them when they didn’t have to provide them.”

    Recently we published a post warning readers about the threat of tax fraud ‘Is Your Tax Refund Safe? Identity Theft Warning for Taxpayers’. We addressed this issue, and featured some expert opinion as to who was getting this information and how. The ATO warned that a prevalent scam designed to catch personal information was via fake job ads.

    The fake employer requires the applicant to lodge their tax file number either during the initial application or once an offer of employment is made –that is later withdrawn. The scam is cleverly designed to pilfer the personal information of applicants, including the applicant’s tax file number for purposes of fraud.

    They also say sometimes rogue tax agents are involved in tax fraud.

    But Brett Warfield, a forensic accountant and fraud specialist at Warfield & Associates, said the biggest threat comes from organised crime groups lifting wholesale identity and salary information on employees from private firms or government bodies, either by hacking into company databases or convincing insiders to leak it.

    He told Ninemsn they then use this pilfered data to lodge hundreds of forged submissions with the ATO.

    “They tend to submit the tax returns fairly quickly after the end of June to beat the real taxpayer,” said Mr Warfield.

    He added that crime gangs still have to outsmart the ATO’s sophisticated fraud risk filters, which cross-check claims against data such as previous entries on income and expenses, mailing addresses and bank account details for wiring refunds.

    Ninemsn attempted to use freedom-of-information laws to find out how many such fraudulent returns the ATO fails to intercept, but it admitted it does not measure or even estimate its losses.

    In the meantime, it is our understanding that this type of crime is on the rise. In this digital age access to our own information (and to others in the process) becomes easier, and interaction with companies which hold our information and/or use it, become less personal. In this digital age it is how we appear on paper (or rather ‘online’) through our credit ‘score’ or ‘rating’ that means doors either open or close for us in financial circles. Business is not done on a hand shake any more. Seldom does anyone give their ‘word’ and that is enough. So we are vehement with educating people about how their personal information can be compromised, and impact their credit rating. This is a big threat to our credit health – and important to understand and prevent.

    If yourself, or someone you know has been a victim of tax fraud, or any other type of scam or fraud, it is important that you manage the risk to your credit file:

    What can I do if I suspect I am a victim of identity theft?

    1. Notify Police immediately. Many people do nothing due to embarrassment, or because they don’t believe the fraud was significant enough. But is only through this crime getting reported that statistics get collated, and we start to have any chance of catching the criminals.

    2. Notify creditors. You may need to cancel credit accounts.

    3. Obtain a credit report. This report is free once per year for every Australian who holds a credit file. It will indicate to you whether any of your contact details have changed, or whether there have been credit enquiries on your account. If you act quickly enough, you may be able to stop your credit rating from being affected by black marks which would come from fraudsters obtaining credit in your name.

    4. Notify credit reporting agencies of the possible fraud. This may help to prevent any attempts to misuse your good credit rating.

    5. Police may assist you in obtaining a Victims of Commonwealth Identity Crime Certificate, if they believe you are eligible. You can apply to a magistrate in your State for this certificate, which may help in recovering your credit rating or credit accounts. Victims need to have had a Commonwealth Indictable Offence committed against them. For more information, visit the Attorney-General’s website www.ag.gov.au.

    For help in recovering your credit rating following identity theft, contact a Credit Repair Advisor on 1300 667 218 or visit the MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs main site www.mycra.com.au.

    Image: Grant Cochrane/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Is Your Tax Refund Safe? Identity Theft Warning for Taxpayers

    Identity theftAt tax time, there are some things you need to know about to protect your identity from criminals. We look at the two most common types of identity fraud associated with tax refunds, and look at what you can do to ensure you don’t lose your refund, or become an identity theft statistic with a bad credit rating that will be a nightmare to recover from.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MyCRA Lawyers

    Criminals Lodging Fraudulent Tax Claims

    There have been reports over recent years of Australians unable to lodge their own tax return, because they have found that one has already been lodged in their name. Fraudsters have been able to canvas the tax file number and personal details such as full name, address and date of birth of the individual, and have lodged a claim in their victim’s name, pilfering the return before the victim has even thought about putting their tax in. These people are also vulnerable to bad credit through identity theft – if fraudsters take out credit in the victim’s name as well.

    It was reported in Ninemsn yesterday that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) blocked payments worth $40 million last year that would have gone to criminals. This represents more than double the revenue the tax office protected the previous year in identity crime-related cases – with the reported interception of 8,000 fraudulent tax claims.

    But officials tell Ninemsn they have little idea how much money they lose to identity thieves who con them into actually paying out on fraudulent returns. Last year it was reported in The Telegraph that in the previous financial year the number of stolen tax file numbers suspected of use in identity fraud topped 31,200 – from 12,669 the previous year.

    How do criminals get your tax file number?

    The ATO recently sent out a media release warning about the recent surge in fake job adverts over the internet asking prospective employees to provide their tax file numbers as part of a job application or once they are made an offer of employment, which is later withdrawn.

    Ninemsn also reports temporary visa holders such as foreign students are offered cash for the tax file numbers they will no longer need once they leave Australia.

    They also say sometimes rogue tax agents are involved.

    “People are trusting people they shouldn’t,” Greg Williams, a deputy commissioner in the ATO’s compliance division told Ninemsn.

    People who share the same name and birthday are also in the “at risk” category.

    But Ninemsn reports, the reasons go deeper:

    “… Brett Warfield, a forensic accountant and fraud specialist at Warfield & Associates, said the biggest threat comes from organised crime groups lifting wholesale identity and salary information on employees from private firms or government bodies, either by hacking into company databases or convincing insiders to leak it.

    They then use this pilfered data to lodge hundreds of forged submissions with the ATO, he said.

    “They tend to submit the tax returns fairly quickly after the end of June to beat the real taxpayer,” said Mr Warfield.

    He added that crime gangs still have to outsmart the ATO’s sophisticated fraud risk filters, which cross-check claims against data such as previous entries on income and expenses, mailing addresses and bank account details for wiring refunds.

    But when ninemsn used freedom-of-information laws to find out how many such fraudulent returns the ATO fails to intercept, it admitted it does not measure or even estimate its losses.

    This is despite increases in funding to detect fraud as well as criticism from the Commonwealth Ombudsman that the ATO fails to investigate or attempt to recover funds in cases of identity theft where losses were deemed “relatively small”.

    An ATO spokeswoman said its focus is on detecting fraudulent claims before refunds are paid out — a strategy they say is more effective than trying to recoup sham refunds that have already been issued.

    What to do if someone has made a fraudulent claim on your tax refund

    Contact the ATO immediately. Last year the ATO established a “client identity support centre” to assist people whose identities were stolen. You could also contact and make a formal complaint to the Commonwealth Taxation Ombudsman if you are unable to come to a solution or been able to lodge your correct refund.

    Considering the very important personal information these fraudsters have for you, you should order a copy of your credit file as soon as possible. Check it carefully to make sure there have been no attempts, nor successes in obtaining credit in your name. Notify Police if you find anything strange on your credit file – look for address changes, credit enquiries you didn’t make, and credit accounts.

    If criminals have been able to take out credit in your name, it will mean you may have incurred some repayments in arrears and Creditors could be in the process of adding a default or other negative listing to your credit file, even if it doesn’t show up as such right away. You should contact those Creditors as soon as possible to advise them of the identity theft.

    For tax crime, which is a Commonwealth indictable offence, Police may advise you that as an identity theft victim, you could be eligible to apply for a Victims of Commonwealth Identity Crime Certificate – which can go a long way in helping to prove you didn’t initiate any credit taken out in your name. This could mean you would be able to recover your ability to obtain credit in your own right and could help with debts that have been incurred in your name.

    Fake tax refund scams

    On the other side of the coin, if you have been able to successfully lodge your tax return with the ATO, beware of fake emails claiming to be from the ATO asking for confirmation of personal details in order to send your refund to you – or for you to claim your refund.

    Here’s what one of these emails might look like, but they take many different forms (picture courtesy of ATO Online Security webpage):

     

    scamWhat you should do if you receive an email like this

    The ATO advises it will never email you asking for personal or credit card details and you should never provide this information.

    One version of this scam contains an attachment infected with a virus. This email purports to be from the ATO and asks for the recipient to complete the attached form to receive a tax refund. There is zip file attached to the message that contains a malicious program. If you receive an email like this, do not open the attachment.

    Under no circumstances should you give personal information including credit card or banking details. Anyone who has received a suspicious phone call or email should contact the ATO immediately.

    A good way to stay ahead of scams and other ways your identity and credit file could be at risk, is to sign up to the Government’s Stay Smart Online alert service, which will inform you of new scams as they unfold, and hopefully prevent you from becoming a victim, losing money and incurring debt and bad credit as a result.

    To get a free copy of your credit file, or if you need help to recover your clean credit file after identity theft – we might be able to help. Contact a credit repair advisor on 1300 667 218 or visit our main site for more details www.mycralawyers.com.au.

    Image: Arvind Balaraman/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Lost your job? Three things you need to know to prevent bad credit haunting you long after you get a new one

    unemployedJob hunting and credit files seem unrelated – but they are connected for three reasons. We tell you how when you have lost a job, or when you are in the process of finding a new one, there are some things that impact your credit file that you need to know about. If heeded – they can help you avoid bad credit.

    By Graham Doessel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MyCRA Lawyers

    Yesterday, an article from SavingsGuide.com.au What To Do When You Lose Your Job caught my eye. It went through the things you need to do to make sure you remain in the black with your finances after you have lost your job. This article is the inspiration for the first piece of advice:

    1. If You Have Lost Your Job – Sit Down and Work Out What You Owe and What is Owed To You

    Even if you think the situation is very temporary – you don’t have a crystal ball. Put measures in place straight away to protect yourself and your family from debt and bad credit.

    Savings guide recommends taking advantage of any insurance policies of income or mortgage protection that you have in place immediately. It could take a little while to process the claim. If you don’t have insurance, don’t be too proud to apply for assistance with the Department of Human Services. The sooner you do this the better, as it could take up to a few weeks to process the claim.

    You will also need to work out how much disposable income you have now, and tally up all of your bills that you consider will appear in the future.

    ASIC’s MoneySmart Website has some great advice and specific links for further information on what to do if you find yourself unemployed. Here is an excerpt from their web page titled Losing Your Job:

    Knowing where you stand financially

    You will feel able to make clearer decisions once you know how much money you really have. Find out what you have in savings, then list every expense you’ll have to meet for the next 2 months. Use our budget planner and include necessities like mortgage payments, loans, health care, medicines, car and home maintenance, and insurance premiums.

    What you want to do is avoid getting in arrears with your accounts at all costs. It only takes 60 days in arrears on any account to get into ‘default’ with creditors, and this notation on your credit file will mean you will probably be blacklisted from credit for 5 years – even if you find another job and get everything back on track a month or two later.

    Once you have worked out how long your current funds are going to last, you will be in a good position to do the next task…

    2. If You Have Lost Your Job – You Need to Put Your Hand Up and Tell Your Creditors

    Don’t wait until you are in arrears (or in debt up to your eyeballs!) to let your Creditors know. As SavingsGuide recommends, negotiating with Creditors early is the smart thing to do:

    “Whether it’s your mortgage or a monthly gym membership fee, you’re going to need to address these payments before they get out of hand,” writer Toria Phillips advises.

    Financial hardship variations are encouraged in many industries, with new regulations having just been brought in for both the finance and telco industries.

    Money Help, a website run by the Victorian State Government offers more help on how to apply for hardship with creditors in the correct way. They advise people to work out what they can afford to pay prior to requesting a hardship variation – so if you have done this you will have a better chance of coming to a more affordable arrangement with your Creditor.

    The Creditor may be able to offer reduced payments and in some cases could stall any movements to default your credit file if you happen to get in arrears.

    Creditors are legally required to consider a person’s request for variation on payment arrangements, but are not obliged to agree to any hardship variation proposal put forward. But there is a trend towards offering help before defaults – so it is crucial to ask.

    Having your current debts at a more manageable level will allow you to concentrate on the actual process of finding a job. But beware (as if you didn’t have enough to worry about) whilst you are looking for a job you also need to look out for fraudsters…

    3. Job Seekers Scam Warning – Be Wary of Giving Away Your Personal Details To Scammers

    Last week the Australian Taxation Office issued a warning to job seekers that they were the target of scams. It reports they have received more than 10,000 reports on a wide range of scams including fake job advertisements, emails and bogus phone calls.

    Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo explains the job seeker scam – that bogus job ads are being posted on recruitment websites by scammers, and that people are even being asked to provide their tax file numbers.

    “Personal information can be used by scammers to lodge false tax returns in your name, enable the use of your credit cards or even result in people taking out a loan in your name. In some cases, identity crime can take years to resolve,” Mr D’Ascenzo says in a statement to the media.

    Becoming a victim of identity theft is the last thing a person who has lost their job needs. This crime could mean what little money you may have left in your bank accounts is drained by fraudsters; or a much-need tax return is pilfered; or it could even mean you have debts in your name you did not initiate and your ability to obtain credit is compromised for years to come.

    Don’t ever give a potential employer your Tax File Number, banking details or any other crucial personal details until you begin work with them! If you’re not sure – you can always contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to dispel any suspicions before you give away your personal information. You can call them on 1300 795 995 or visit the ACCC’s SCAMWatch website www.scamwatch.gov.au.

    Let’s hope your unemployment is only very temporary and you are able to keep your credit file free from bad credit during the process!

    If you are currently experiencing bad credit due to a temporary financial hardship such as a job loss, it may be worth assessing whether your credit history can be reviewed by a professional credit repairer. Any listings which are deemed unlawfully placed for whatever reason could be required to be removed by your Creditor. Contact a Credit Repair Advisor on 1300 667 218 or visit our main website www.mycralawyers.com.au for more information.

    This week running 2-8 September, is MoneySmart Week – Australia’s first ever national, not-for-profit, financial literacy awareness week. For more details visit the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board initiative www.moneysmartweek.org.au.

    Image: winnond/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

  • Tax fraud worth $33 million linked to identity crime

    Victims struggle with recovery after tax fraud leaves them out of pocket. Could this type of identity crime threaten their  credit file?

    According to public documents, a staggering $33 million worth of suspected fraudulent tax refunds linked to identity crime have been blocked since July this year. Last week SC Magazine released an article ‘ID thieves steal tax returns’ revealing these figures.

    It reports criminals are lodging fraudulent returns with the ATO and also creating fake group certificates linked to real businesses.

    SC reports that the process of finding the fraudsters and reimburing victims is complicated and difficult:

    “Australian Federal Police are understood to be only able to investigate instances of fraud against the ATO if banks supply suspect account details. This is thought to scarcely occur.”

    “The task facing the ATO’s team of anti-fraud investigators is hard to overstate. The $33 million in fraudulent returns blocked since tax time represented a mere 0.67 per cent of total returns processed over the same period. The ATO had withheld pending review 1.2 per cent of returns amounting to $401 million in claims which it considered “overstated” or “potentially fraudulent”.

    And with the lion’s share of legitimate and fraudulent returns filed within four months, the office’s sophisticated fraud-detection systems are put on a hunt for the proverbial needle in the hack stack,” the article says.

    The ATO says it could not comment on investigations, but has promised to reimburse victims, saying they have a:

    “strong focus on raising awareness within the community about the importance of TFN protection and personal information,” it told SC Magazine.

    In the meantime, two of the victims interviewed by SC reported experiencing many issues with attempting to get to the bottom of the fraud themselves. There has reportedly been little assistance from the accountants responsible for lodging the fraudulent claims (they are reportedly not liable having lodged the claim in good faith), and after 30 calls to the ATO from one of the victims, still no answers and no refund yet.

    What we found most interesting about this article, was the last few paragraphs on the Australian Federal Police’s response to SC:

    “Matters of individual tax fraud should be handled by the ATO it [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][the AFP] said.

    It has five officers dedicated to investigating such fraud across Australia. it believed the victims should consult state police.

    For Cameron and Mansfield [the alleged fraud victims featured in the article], it remains unclear who they can turn to for assistance to recoup their lost tax claims.

    Short of obtaining a new TFN, agencies could offer little advice for victims of tax fraud.

    Government agencies broadly suggest victims of identity theft purchase a credit monitoring service and regularly check bank accounts,” the article says.

    The comments illustrate where we believe Australia can do more when it comes to identity theft – identity theft recovery.

    The media seems to frequently speak to identity theft victims, but many of them seem to have been unable to recover their lost monies, to find someone who shoulders the responsibility or gives them the answers or help they are looking for.

    Albeit it is early days for identity theft as a crime, but with a recent survey commissioned by the former Attorney-General revealing 1 in 6 people know someone or themselves have been a victim of identity theft, and the Australian Crime Commission citing identity crime as the fastest growing crime in Australia, it may be a pertinent time for victim recovery to be given more focus.

    In the SC article, it was recognised that the actual victim of fraud was the ATO, whose money was stolen by fraudsters. But what about the person whose identity was stolen? Are they at risk of further fraud in other areas?

    The fraudsters have detailed personal information on the victims, what to say they can’t take credit out in the victim’s name or use the information for other illegal purposes? Where should they go to be given advice on what to do?

    Recently we investigated identity theft recovery, and how it specifically relates to repairing a damaged credit rating. A damaged credit rating from identity theft can hurt the victim sometimes more than the original fraud. Not only can they owe the debt, and all subsequent fees to creditors they can be blacklisted from obtaining further credit in their names for 5 to 7 years. An identity theft victim who is not able to recover their credit rating is facing years of hardship. So where can victims turn for help?

    “Government agencies broadly suggest victims of identity theft purchase a credit monitoring service and regularly check bank accounts”

    This is true, but what was missed from the quotes in this article, was the fact that these victims may be eligible to apply at a Magistrate’s Court for a Commonwealth Victims of Identity Crime Certificate. Were victims told about their options in this regard?

    This Certificate is designed to give Commonwealth identity theft victims some kind of official substantiation to their claims of fraud.

    “A Commonwealth Victims’ Certificate helps support your claim that you have been the victim of Commonwealth identity crime. You can present the Certificate to an organisation such as a Government agency, or a business (such as a financial institution or credit agency).  This may help you negotiate with them to re‑establish your credentials or to remove a fraudulent transaction from their records.

    A certificate does not compel any organisation to take a particular action. It will not automatically re-establish a person’s credit rating or remove a fraudulent transaction from their record. It is also not admissible in any legal proceedings.” The Attorney-General’s website says.

    With recovery obviously so difficult, victims need any help they can get.

    If victims have their credit rating damaged for example, black marks are quite difficult for the individual to remove. When it comes to identity theft in our experience, creditors demand documentary proof to help with establishing that the victim did not initiate the credit in the first place. This certificate could certainly be a very valuable document for victims and we feel would greatly assist victims in substantiating their claims to creditors.

    During our investigations, we found it difficult to establish the ground rules as to what constituted a Commonwealth Indictable Offence, and a State Offence.

    The Attorney-General’s office advised us that the list of offences against the Commonwealth are so great, it is difficult to provide a full list for the public. They say that if any person suspects identity theft, they may be eligible and should just apply  for the Certificate, and a magistrate in their State will decide whether it is possible to obtain one on Commonwealth grounds.

    And as to whether these tax fraud victims would be eligible? A spokesperson for the Attorney-General advised us that that a Commonwealth indictable offence would include some instances of tax fraud:

    “This includes conduct relating to tax fraud such as when an individual dishonestly obtains a financial benefit from the Commonwealth by using another person’s identity,” the spokesperson said.

    They say it is up to the Police to pass on information on the Certificate to victims as they see appropriate for each individual fraud case. Apart from that, information is available on the Attorney-General’s website.

    It may be that the tax fraud victims at this stage have no need or claim for an identity crime certificate. But broadly speaking, it should be something which is promoted by all agencies as an avenue for recovery for victims. It could also be something State-based agencies could also look at adopting for identity theft victims.

    In the meantime, identity theft continues to affect 1 in 6 of us, and while Australia continues to iron out its laws and streamline its investigations, we believe the current victims are unlucky to be at the beginning of our development of effective recovery processes.
    For further help with credit repair information following identity theft, contact MyCRA Credit Repairs tollfree on 1300 667 218 or visit the main website www.mycra.com.au.

    Image: Arvind Balaraman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

     

     [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]