coTax Related Phishing Scams Hit Companies
It has recently been discovered that companies are being hit with very sophisticated phishing scams. These phishing 
scams have been designed in order to trick users because they appear to come from the Australian Taxation Office, which promises to increase the specific amount of the value of tax returns. Symantec is warning everyone to be extremely aware of these phishing attacks and to not fall for any of it.
According to Adrian Covich who is Symantec’s principal systems engineer: “We are seeing an increase in the number of ATO-based claims. We saw a number of them last year, and the same will happen again. We also saw an increase in the number of claims in the US and Britain as well.”
He also states that: “These attacks are not obvious anymore. They have become quite complex, and the best way to be on guard against to them is to know that you’re not going to get any sort of solicitation from the tax office directly. You should always be suspicious.”
The truth of the matter is that even small companies are being targeted and just because you have a small company, this doesn’t make you immune to these attacks. The emails which you will receive will make use of official ATO graphics in order to make people believe that these emails are real. Some of these emails will not only promote early tax returns but will also request you to update your details; of course this is a scam that you must never fall for.
Some advice given by Adrian is:”Firstly, you need to make sure the filtering software is up to date. Always use a reputable filter, because free isn’t always best. Also, check the service level agreement you have with your provider, and make sure you’re being blocked from everything.”, “You also need to inform staff about these emails, because you don’t want them opening emails and then making you part of a botnet.”
