Tax season scams as AI joins fraud in con artist arsenal

Tax season can be frustrating, and scammers are eager to prey on people's hopes and dreams of refunds. Photo / 123RF

Christmas scams are so last summer, but with tax season on the way now, con artists are expected to try duping people during what can be another stressful time of year.

As fraudsters overseas start using artificial intelligence to write new scam scripts, a local bank is urging customers to watch out for more old-fashioned tax scams.

“If you’re ever called, messaged or emailed and told you’re eligible for a tax refund, or to pay a tax bill, be wary,” Westpac warned customers.

The bank said people should always access Inland Revenue accounts through the IRD website.

Some tax scams are phishing expeditions, when crooks impersonate well-known companies or agencies to trick people into handing over credit card details or personal information.

“There are definitely certain times of the year when there’s a high likelihood of you expecting to receive Inland Revenue mail,” said Robyn Walker, Deloitte New Zealand tax partner.

“If you’re a phisher that’s when you would probably ramp up your efforts to try to target people because they’re expecting to hear from Inland Revenue.”

Walker said regular taxpayers had returns due on July 7. But for anybody with a tax agent, returns are due on March 31.

More tax scams are also expected later this year.

Between mid-May and July, the IRD automatically processes and pays out tax refunds.

“That is also the time scammers may try to scam people with realistic looking messaging claiming to be from Inland Revenue,” the tax department spokeswoman said.

“Because scammers know there is a ‘tax season’ or peak time for Inland Revenue, they do target this time of the tax year to try to rip people off and gain access to bank accounts and other personal information.”

Throughout the year, people should be wary of any emails or texts purporting to come from the IRD and saying there is a refund to collect or a tax bill to pay.

“Anything that asks for personal or bank account details could be scammers at work. People should always access their IR account through your myIR,” the spokeswoman added.

“Also avoid clicking on links or attachment in emails.”

Inland Revenue said it would never use terms such as “dear citizen” or “excess payment” when communicating with taxpayers.

Meanwhile, logistics company DHL Express is warning people to be wary of scam texts.

“Postal text scams are one of the most common forms of scams. These texts attempt to fool the public into clicking links or sharing financial information,” a DHL Express spokesman said.

“Due to the nature of their services, DHL’s name is often used in an attempt to add validity to scam texts.”

The company said texts appearing random and having no connection to the recipient should be avoided.

And it said members of the public could also help protect others from scams.

“Speak to less tech-literate people about staying safe. The elderly and young people are vulnerable to scams.”

Cybersecurity company Norton last week said criminals were using the AI chatbot ChatGPT to quickly create emails or social media posts to lure the public into scams.

Norton Labs experts said malicious people could use ChatGPT to create deepfake chatbots, impersonate human or legitimate sources like a bank, or develop convincing threats.

“Cybercriminals can now quickly and easily craft email or social media phishing lures that are even more convincing, making it more difficult to tell what’s legitimate and what’s a threat,” Norton added.

ChatGPT could also generate code.

“Just as ChatGPT makes developers’ lives easier with its ability to write and translate source code, it can also make cybercriminals’ lives easier by making scams faster to create and more difficult to detect.”