practical living
from either the phone book or an online search, contact the
tax office and tell them about the call, and check whether or
not you owe money.
[Things can often get more complex because] what
we’re starting to see now is scammers calling people on
their landline. That’s one way older people are vulnerable
because they’re more likely to be at home, and to have a
landline. When you hang up, [the scammers] don’t hang up,
and if you quickly pick up the phone again, [the scammers]
may still be on the line, and pretend to be the tax office. So
[it is best to] leave it for a while, or use another telephone to
verify things.
It’s a bit like the Microsoft and Telstra scams, in which
you get a call saying there is something wrong with your
computer and they demand remote access, and manage
to get your bank account details, charge you for fixing a
problem that wasn’t there.
Investment scams [are also popular]. You get a call out of
the blue offering an investment opportunity. [Scammers] are
aware that people around the time of retirement are looking to
secure their [finances]. They want to increase the return they’re
getting