The latest email scam took advantage of tax hectic time, with messages that appear to be sent by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) landing in inboxes across the country.
The email contains a link that claims to take recipients to an official message in the myGov app — but recipients of the fake alert are urged to delete it immediately and avoid clicking on the link.
“You have a message in your mygov inbox. Click to view,” the fraudulent email reads.
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Email security company MailGuard said the message was intentionally short to encourage recipients to click through as it alerts the fraud its software blocks at the end of the 2023-24 financial year.
If a recipient clicks on the link, they will be taken to a web page with a “clunky” looking image containing the logos for the Australian Government, Australian Services and myGov, as well as a second link that reads: “Click here to view”.
This first web page is not the threat itself, but is designed to fool security software, MailGuard warned in its blog.
Just clicking on the link displayed on it will bring up a terminal web page mimicking the myGov login page and prompting recipients to enter their personal username and password, details which the fraudsters will then steal.
“When filling in the form, victims will reveal their username or email and password, giving fraudsters access to the myriad services provided by myGov,” Mailguard said.
The only truly safe way for MyGov customers to access related services is to write my.gov.au in your internet browser or use the official myGov app, according to myGov website.
“myGov will never ask you via email, text message or social media direct message to click on a link to log in to myGov, enter your bank details, provide your ID or tell us your personal details,” it says in it.
“We do not offer live chat via social media.”
This scam is not new and has appeared in variants earlier this year, twice last year and at least as far back as 2017, according to MailGuard.
“Cybercriminals are opportunists and what better opportunity than to send an ATO link to people in the run-up to the end of the financial year.
“MailGuard advises all recipients of this email to delete it immediately without clicking on any links,” it said.
