Today I got a phone call from 08 7070 6189 around 2pm on my mobile phone and they left a message.
So I rung my message bank and to my surprise it was the ATO Australian Tax Office, or was it?
I have been rung by many people pretending to be other people but this is the first time that the ATO has rung me or even left a message for me.
It was an automated message with an American Twang to it and also the language / phasing was wrong in many places.
You can read below the transcript from this dodgy ATO scam phone call from 08 7070 6189 below.
Here you go, try not to laugh.
Hello we have been trying to reach you.
This call is officially a final notice from ATO Australian Taxation Office.
I repeat this call is officially a final notice from ATO Australian Taxation Office.
The reason of this call is to notify you that it are filing a lawsuit against you.
So before your case gets downloaded into the courthouse.
Call our department back on number 8 7070 6189
I repeat 8 7070 6189
Goodbye, God Bless you.
So who called me on 08 7070 6189?
I’m really not sure, but they have an Australian phone number to call on, and I’d say that it isn’t the ATO.
From searching around Google I have found the scammers use to call people on an 02 number for a while but have just started popping up on another number now.
They must have shifted from NSW / ACT to Western Australia / South Australia /Northern Territory or just buy / rent a number and are still based overseas.
The scam comes with calling them back and then they have you.
They apparently relentlessly call you back and threaten you with many different things.
Here are a few key points in the phone message that are a giveaway that they it is a scam.
- It’s automated
- They don’t use any personal details in contacting you
- They don’t generally call people and use phrases like “it are filing a lawsuit”
- Unusual to threaten lawsuit and end with “God Bless you”
- American accent on automated message
- They don’t use a proper Area Code when telling you the number to ring back
- Do we download into the courthouse in Australia? I’d say no
So how do I stop 08 7070 6189?
Easy, block the number they call on your phone.
Then they can’t call you at all from their number 08 7070 6189.
So hopefully now (even though I have read they try to call you on many different numbers), they will not be able to annoy me.
Be careful
Although I have light heartedly written about this message from 08 7070 6189 I must tell you to be careful.
There has been a lot of people who have rung back scammers or clicked through on the scam emails and lost a lot of money thinking they owe money to the ATO and other organisations which is very sad indeed.
Make sure you do thorough checks before handing over any personal details to anyone.
Here is the link for you to the ACCC Government Scamwatch Page with the phone number to contact the ATO and also a few more details on other ATO Scams, ATO Scamwatch.
I have a few other scam phone calls that have come through, you can read these here too if you want, Phone Scams.
*Update
I have blocked the 08 7070 6189 phone number on my phone but they still can leave messages for some reason.
So far they have called me at 2pm on the first day,3pm the following day, and 3.22pm two days after than that.
I’ll add to this list of calls when they leave messages.
And as an afterthought, I’ll let Telstra know this time again as the scammers have an Australian phone number.
I have let Telstra know in the past about Unknown Number Scam Phone Calls and they said they cant stop them without a phone number and they just come though via internet calls.
It will be interesting to hear the response this time.