said the voice at the other end of the line when I answered the phone.
The voice went on to tell me that there had been a complaint about me from the Tax Office and that there was a warrant out for my arrest. It told me to ring the number I was given and ended with an ominous sounding "Do not ignore".
I have of course ignored it. It is one of the current scams making life a misery for so many people.
Even I, with a completely clear tax-conscience, felt a little bump when the first automated words were said. Police? What's going on?
Had they asked the Federal Police to call on behalf of the state police somewhere? Were my siblings and their families all right?
Tax Office? No, that's a scam.
Out of curiosity I listened to the entire message. It was an automated voice, one rather like the announcements you hear on a train telling you which station you are about to arrive at. There was very little said. The time was probably just within the limit that makes it difficult to track if a phone is being monitored. And yes, the telephone number they gave to call (repeated twice) had the local area code.
I know that, were I foolish enough to ring such a number, it would be deftly diverted to somewhere else in the world. If I rang it then they would want my "credit card" details to pay the "debt". And yes, they were clever enough to keep the line "open" for some time. I had to wait until the phone rang again and there was silence and then the engaged signal before I could make a call out.
Now I knew about the scam. I also know I don't owe any overdue tax. But I can see how easily people would get caught by this. It catches you unexpectedly. Oh! Do I owe money? I thought I'd done the right thing but perhaps I had better check? Maybe that claim for work clothing was disallowed? But it can't be more than a few dollars? The ATO is getting really tough. I suppose I had better...
It would have been interesting - if very disturbing - to have an actual conversation with someone at the other end of the number they provided.
It would be good to be able to lead them on and then say,
"The police are now at your door."
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1 comment:
You make a good point about the 'panic factor' that the words "Federal Police" and "under arrest" can cause.People don't think clearly when they are in panic, shock or anxiety making it more likely that they would actually phone the number in haste without thinking it through properly, although if one were truly under arrest, they would find out by the police at their door, not on the telephone! Glad it didn't catch you, Cat.
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