I often wonder if flies know they should not go towards the light of a fly zapper and if they do know do they also know their fate? It reminds me of a scene in A Bug’s Life were one fly tries to warn the other by saying ‘No, Harry no, don’t look at the light’ only for Harry to reply ‘I can’t help it. It’s so beautiful. And then Harry gets zapped.

As a tax agent you would think that I know what dosh I owe the ATO.

Apparently not because the ATO called me 8pm which was not a convenient time because we have volunteered to raise a Guide Dog puppy and were trying to put her asleep except Loris was in no mood to go to sleep. So just as the howling stopped and we thought we could celebrate success with a glass (or in our case a bottle) of wine the phone went off and .. yes, she restarted.

With gritted teeth I answered to be told that I owed the tax office $27,382.45 and that a warrant had been issued for my arrest. I was given his name (Simon), an official badge number, and a case number. All things that would normally scare the crap out of you.

Yes, you guessed it, this was a scam call. But let me continue.

He then asked for my ID and this is usually when I say my name is Mr Hazratwala Chagandas Gulabbhai. This puts them off a bit because they cannot pronounce the name and that causes many problems. You see scammers are told to repeat names to build trust. But an unusual name or one that is hard to pronounce knocks them off their scripts.

Anyway, according to Simon I was in serious trouble. If I did not transfer the amount immediately ‘or the maximum I could afford today’ the police would be called to arrest me and presumably put me in stocks and stretch my body for eternity. Crikey.

So, I told him I had about $20,000 which got him very excited. To cut a long story short I ended it by telling him I work for the ATO and the ATO portal showed I did not owe anything.

This made Simon very upset, and he moved from polite caller to intimidation but suddenly cut off because Simon realised I was not a mug and there were many other mugs out there to be conned.

That was one example. Here is another that is a bit more believable. It was a call I received a few months ago.

‘Sir, my name is Mary Cockrane and I am from the Australian Police. We think you could be a victim of identity fraud because Virgin Money has informed us you have a debt of $15,754 for a credit card and these expenses have all been made in the last 2 days.

As I do not have a Virgin Money Credit Card I say OMG. So, the story continues and goes for a while with Mary asking various questions.

Eventually Mary states ‘Looks like all your bank accounts are compromised and all money needs to be moved now otherwise you will lose it all. This means all bank accounts including saving accounts.

“How much money do you have in your accounts, Mr err Haz…?

“I have about $25,000”, I said. Like Simon Mary’s eyes twinkled with dollar signs and she kept telling me it was all at risk and I needed to do something immediately.

I was then advised to transfer my money into what she called a ‘safe’ Australian Police Bank Trust account where the money will be safe while they investigate further.

I then tell her that my bank account has already been compromised as I only have 1c left. The identity theft guys have already got there! This results in the phone line getting cut.

It may sound obvious reading this, but many get conned.

Scam calls cost us $36 million a year.

A few years ago, email scams were the way you conned people because it was cheap. Now with email filters blocking most scams, the scammers moved to phones which are just as cheap.

There will come a time when phone calls will be filtered but we are not there yet.

Here are some do’s and don’ts

• If you are a client of this firm, we always ask the ATO to contact us, not you, so you should not get a call from the tax office. If you do get a call from the tax office refer them to us.

A genuine ATO call will have our details and will call us.

If the caller asks for our details tell them they should have it and THEN CUT THE PHONE OFF.

• If the ATO calls and says you own them money never pay it on the phone. Contact us or your accountant, get them to check directly with the ATO and we will tell you if amounts need to be paid.

Alternatively put down the phone and call the ATO directly – not a number you have been given on the phone. Do a web search for the phone number and call the ATO directly.

• If they ask for ID give a false name that is hard to pronounce – it puts them off and if they accept it the chances are the call is a scam.

They should come back and say that is not correct or that records do not match.

• Never give our bank account details or who you bank with.

• The police will never contact you to claim for fines, penalties or ATO debt. You will find out first by mail.

• Scam callers always get flustered if they say they are calling from the ATO, XYZ bank or the Police and you tell them you also work for those organisations.

If they are genuine the conversation will continue and you can then apologise if the call turns out to be genuine.

• If you have doubts you are probably right. In that case end the call.

Don’t be like the fly committing suicide. Many who get scammed feel that something is not right – that they should not go towards the light – but somehow, they feel compelled to go there.

Be vigilant. Don’t commit financial suicide.