Editor: Unbelievably, scammers are still successfully bilking Australians out of tens of thousands of dollars, as a recent ATO scam report shows.

According to the July 2019 ATO impersonation scam report:

• - 6,179 online scam reports were received in the first month of their new online reporting form going live;
• - 6,645 phone scam reports were officially recorded, and 465 phishing scam emails were reported to reportemailfraud@ato.gov.au;
• - 520 taxpayers provided scammers with their personal identifying information including date of birth, tax file number, driver's licence number and notice of assessment details; and
• - $197,057 was reported as being paid to scammers, mostly by iTunes and Google Play

Please Note: Many of the comments in this publication are general in nature and anyone intending to apply the information to practical circumstances should seek professional advice to independently verify their interpretation and the information’s applicability to their particular circumstances.