There are ongoing reports of telephone calls from people who claim to represent the Australian Tax Office or other government agency, demanding large amounts of money to be paid immediately in satisfaction of outstanding tax or other debt. We urge you to direct any enquiries from the ATO to your Ruddicks adviser immediately and not disclose any identifying information or make any payments.

Genuine representatives of the ATO will not demand payments over the phone and they should contact your accountant in the first instance in any event. As registered tax agents, we are able to quickly check your account balances with the ATO and to clarify the existence or amount of any tax debt so if you have any concerns, please call your Ruddicks adviser before disclosing any details to a third party.

Businesses have also been advised to be suspicious of any urgent demands for transfers of large sums of money by email. Scammers are reportedly claiming to be corporate CEOs and senior staff members to steal up to hundreds of thousands of dollars by sending fake emails to employees requesting large sums of money to be transferred into bank accounts held by third party individuals. These bank accounts and email addresses involved are seemingly legitimate, however, may have been established using the details of victims of identity theft.

Businesses are advised to always verify urgent or unusual requests directly and verbally with the person involved, and follow all governance and due diligence processes.

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DISCLAIMER: The contents of this publication are general in nature and we accept no responsibility for persons acting on information contained herein. The content of this newsletter does not constitute specific advice and readers are encouraged to consult their Ruddicks adviser on any matters of interest. © Ruddicks 2016