Police issue warning as tax scammers target Territorians

POLICE are warning Territorians to beware of tax fraudsters after a NT man was scammed out of thousands of dollars.

Police are warning Territorians to beware of tax fraudsters after a 37-year-old NT man transferred $12,000 to scammers.

POLICE are warning Territorians to beware of tax fraudsters after a 37-year-old NT man transferred $12,000 to scammers.

An NT Police spokesman said in the past two days, some Alice Springs residents had reported being contacted by scammers from multiple phone numbers, with one of the numbers displayed as Alice Springs Police Station.

The scam callers stated they were from the “taxation office” and there were warrants out for the call recipients’ arrests.

They then requested victims transfer large sums of money and threatened to send police to their locations.

Similar reports have also been made to police in Darwin in recent days.

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The spokesman said the phone calls were not coming from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) or NT Police.

As a result of the calls, a 37-year-old NT man transferred $12,000 to the scammer’s bank account.

The NT Police Cybercrime Unit is investigating.

Police are urging anyone who receives these types of calls to report them to Report Cyber at cyber.gov.au/.

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If you have suffered a financial loss through this type of fraud or other scams, report it to police on 131 444.

For more information and advice on ATO scam alerts, go to ato.gov.au/general/online-services/identity-security/scam-alerts/.

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