ATO Releases Scam Data for 2021

The ATO has released data on scam reports, age cohorts, the channel used and top reported scams for 2021.

Scam Reports

• 50,684 tax and super scams reported in 2021
• The average dollar amount lost to a tax and super scam was $5600

Age

In 2021, people aged 25 to 34 made the most reports to us about losing money in a tax or super scam. This
was closely followed by people aged 18 to 24.

The proportion of people who paid money to tax scammers by age group:

• 0% of payments made by those under 18s
• 25% of payments made by people aged 18 to 24
• 26% of payments made by people aged 25 to 34
• 17% of payments made by people aged 35 to 44
• 13% of payments made by people aged 45 to 54
• 8% of payments made by people aged 55 to 64
• 11% of payments made by people aged over 65

Channel

Most tax and super scams still occur over the phone. But in 2022 we’ve seen volumes of email (phishing)
and SMS (smishing) scams increase.

The proportion of tax scams reported by channel:

• 91% of reports about phone scams
• 6% of reports about email scams
• 3% of reports about SMS scams

Top Reported Scams

Our top 3 tax and super scams reported in 2021 related to:

• Threats of arrest
• Fraudulent TFN activity
• Fake tax debts

Please contact Shakespeare Financial Group for further information on ATO scam data.