ATO spoofed: Scammers use cloned tax office phone number to trick victims – 16 November 2018

by admin | Nov 16, 2018 | News & Analysis

Criminals are using a cloned Australian Taxation Office phone number to convince thousands of people they have been caught evading taxes. The latest scam is so effective that the tax office has placed an automated message on its main switchboard number in Canberra...

Why Australia’s whistleblower protections are waning – 16 November 2018

by admin | Nov 16, 2018 | News & Analysis

Interesting article about whistleblower laws and and how Australia’s corporate whistleblower framework lags international best practice.  It tells how we need people to speak up, so that corporate and tax misconduct can be uncovered early, but that we also need laws...

Cyber-crooks hijack company computer networks to mine cryptocurrency for $350 – 15 November 2018

by admin | Nov 15, 2018 | News & Analysis

Brazen cyber-crooks are selling access to Australian corporate computer networks from $350 to use for mining cryptocurrencies, jeopardising critical business functions and leaching huge amounts of computing power and electricity. Victims do not know they have been...

Hay Shire Council general manager’s corporate credit card use ‘shocks’ colleagues – 15 November 2018

by admin | Nov 15, 2018 | News & Analysis

Former Hay Shire Council General manager, Allen Dwyer purchased golf equipment, antiques, toys and groceries and made cash advances using corporate credit card. The audit report criticised “material deficiencies” in the accounting records as a possible...

Almost $1 million paid to scammers since July, says ATO – 15 November 2018

by admin | Nov 15, 2018 | News & Analysis

Australians have reported more than 28,000 ‘scam’ attempts to the Australian Tax Office (ATO), since July 1, and paid almost $1 million to scammers. The ATO said payments through Bitcoin ATMs had overtaken iTunes vouchers as the most common method of scam...