07-5641-1337

Got a call saying they he was officer of fair trading and was depositing via cheque of $3000 as they won a claim against my bank. wouldnt name my bank but said documents had been sent out to my house for me to sign and all i need to do is present identification. then asked me for my licence number which i then requested to call back of which he hung up.

I just got the same call...some guy who called himself Stephen Clarke but had a strong Indian accent..he gave me the same 07 number..but could not give me which bank I bank with and got half of my name right...

Exactly the same as Cam's caller, rang my wife and told her that he was from the Australian Tax Office Refund department, had a refund of $2500, just had to go to a Post Office, make a security deposit of $199 in cash that would only be held for 10 - 15 minutes, so they could verify identity, and they would then forward the refund. What a load of rubbish. I rang back on this number and he repeated it all to me. Contacted the ATO and they were aware of this scam, gave them the details, and hopefully they can track it down.

Just got off the phone to them now. Had no idea what the girl was going on about, glad to know its a scam I was so confused. Shes ringing back in 10 minutes to arrange the deposit money, now I have to decide whether to confront her or just hang up.

Ditto Barry, just received a call for my husband.  He said he was from the Australian Tax (Reclaim) Office department.  My husband had a refund of $2500 and needed to contact their department.  Firstly, I couldn't understand a damn thing they were saying and had to get him to repeat everything, including the phone number. I had to repeat it back. So thanks for sharing this information.

Just got a similar call - looks like they are continuing their act! What is the ATO doing???

Ha!  I just got off the phone with some Indian guy telling me the exact same story (deposit $199 for verificaiton to get $2500 back along with the orginal $199).  I kept laughing as he siad I was selected from the ATO as I had paid my taxes on time.  Hilarious thing is I'm currently paying off an account I have with the ATO each month!  I told him this along with how I don't believe it and will wait for the ATO to send me a  cheque.  He just kept going on and on how it wasn't a scam!  LOL

FYI... I just got off the phone with the ACCC who are well aware of the scam.   You can view all the current scams at 'www.scamwatch.gov.au'

Same story; I need to pay a secure depoist of $199 to receive $2,500 from ATO, only with the reason of been a good citezen and pay my tax on time.  I said to Jennifer Ok. please deduct $199 from my bonus of $2,500 and send me the difference.... ah and I prefer to receive a TT deposit into my Bank account (which you as Tax Recliam Department should have it) just to save my time to collect the cheque from the Post office.

Same.. got the same call!!

Received a call yesterday telling me I was eligible to reclaim $2500 from Australian Gvmt Tax office.I Iet her speak, gathering info. She insisted this was not a scam and as there were so many out there, I had to take ID to the nearest Gvmt agency or PostOffice, they would call me back in 15 mins to let me know where I was closest to one, deposit $199 and I would get this money, plus my $199 would be returned to me. I told her if I was due for a refund of Tax, it would come from our ATO..she told me not to get confused, this wasn't coming from them but our Gvnmt. HAHA. She asked if I had the $199, I said no. She wanted to know when I would have it. I said next week. Ok will call back then she said . I asked for a call back number so I could ask more Q's. She gave me the above number. I rang my Post Office, who confirmed they knew nothing about it LOL No surprise there!! This info will be going in my Neighbourhood Watch newsletter as well.

got same call here... left his name as officer jack williams from the reclaim department. not gonna call back.

I just got the same call!! seriously sus!! I noticed you all said they were claiming to be from government tax office?? this lady, who i could barely understand said she was from the Australian Grants Department!!

hi i just these people call me and i got info off them haha they are calling me back tomorrow

just got a call from a Indian guy named "kevin" saying that the government was granting me $4500 and that i had to go into the nearest office when he gives it to me with photo id and $299 for a deposit. the guy said he was from the australian taxation grant department. i have since called fare trading and reported this

My Wife just got a call from Jenifer she would get a $3500 grant from the Australian Grant Commission collectable from the Post Office all she had to do was to pay her $199 first and then get her $199 back with the $3500 Check.

recieved a call from an indian sam and another from roger both with heavy accents ,simillar scam as they said i will get a government grant for $4500. All i have to do is deposit $199 to get the money.I thought why i do i need to deposit $199 to get this so called grant.I,m glad i checked the phone no.

just recieved same call from female called jennifer from Aust Gov Grants Department.  Told me exactly the same thing but she said the post office would give me back the $199 then a cheque for the $4500.what government department worker calls you on a saturday afternoon? going to suss this out big time.

This scam is still happening even now in October.  Deposit $199 for $4500 return.  Indian caller named Roger from the same phone number. Reported to Fair Trading.

My grandma had a call yesterday from Kevin Franks of the Australian Grants Department from QLD... telling her that she would get a $2500 grant from the ATO all she had to do was to pay her $199 first and then she'll get the $199 plus $3500 back...
I call today to speak with "Kevin Franks" as soon as he answered the call (indian accent) he said 'I spoke to you yesterday about the grant of $4,500..... and all the same stuff he said to my grandmother. I asked him whereabout he works and where he was located, he said QLD and works forthe Australian Grants Department...  
Spoke with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and they know about the scam but they cant do anything because they are not  in their jurisdiction, probably located in India.
The ACCC told me that the only way of stopping this kind of scams is word of mouth, so please let everybody know about it.
Remember the Government and ATO office will never ask you for money to send you money...