ABC News, 12 September 2017:
A man claiming to be from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has given an expletive-ridden spray to ABC presenter Nick Rheinberger after being told their conversation was being recorded.
It was a voicemail likely to make even the most honest taxpayer frightened — a message from someone claiming to be from the tax office accusing you of tax fraud and asking you to call back immediately.
This is what happened to the ABC Illawarra presenter recently, so he called them back from his radio studio.
The phone call (which was not broadcast live) started politely with a man identifying himself as an ATO employee, who then asked for Rheinberger's details.
The conversation quickly turned offensive when the ABC presenter told him he was in a radio studio.
"I need to let you know I'm recording this call as well," Rheinberger said.
"F*** you, and the recording, and put this recording to your ass as well mother f***er," the man said.
"Right, OK, that's what I'd expect from the Australian Taxation Office," Rheinberger said sarcastically.
"OK? So go and get f***ed, go and f*** your mum."
The call was recorded because Rheinberger suspected it was a scam and wanted to highlight the problem, which the ATO warns has already scammed Australians out of $1.5 million this year.
The caller (who sounds as if he is an Australian resident) has been attempting to make contact with a number of people this month. See http://www.reverseaustralia.com/lookup/0253062283/
The name “Michael Anderson” or “Mike Anderson” appears to be associated with a number of scams and more than one scammer – lottery win, advance fee, cash advance debt recovery, scam victims compensation fund, next of kin inheritance fraud, unlawful prescription drug purchase, application fee, romance and more.
One of these “Michael Andersons” was caught, charged and convicted sometime between 2006 and 2008.
A number of the other Mr. Andersons appear to still be busy dialling and emailing – trying to get the unwary to either hand over their cash or volunteer enough personal information to allow the caller to attempt identity theft.
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