New myGov text scam targeting Australians across the country and how to spot a fake message

Australians have been warned about a series of myGov SMS scams that falsely inform the recipient that changes have been made to their account.

Scammers pose as government officials and tell recipients to click on fraudulent links so they can claim a refund or discount.

Services Australia says anyone who has received a message claiming their account has been altered in some way should consider it a scam.

“You may have recently received a text message notifying you that you have made a change to your myGov account,” Services Australia said in a statement.

An example of a scam message “informs” the recipient that their security information has been “successfully changed” and provides a suspicious link that can be clicked if they have not made this change

The scam text asks you to click on a link if the myGov activity was not created by you.

The text message may ask you to click a link or open a web form.

“If you do, you may be redirected to a bogus myGov site designed to steal your personal and banking information.”

It can tell you that your information is being transferred securely. This is a trick to gain your trust and get you to click the link.’

Services Australia advises users to only log into their myGov account by searching my.gov.au in a web browser and never click on any links attached to an email or text message.

An example of a scam text is: “Your profile security information has been successfully changed if you did not make this change Go to https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11877431/New-myGov-text-scam-targeting-Australians-country-spot-fake-message.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490.’

Another tells the user that their “profile has been put on hold pending review,” then adds a link at the end to “resolve it.”

Some scams have targeted Centrelink recipients where they have been told that their Social Security benefits have been suspended or that their Centrelink details have been disconnected from their myGov account.

Another scam claimed that the user’s profile was ‘put on hold pending review’ with a link at the end to ‘resolve it’

Another text message claimed that the recipient was eligible for a refund and told them to click a hyperlink to confirm their bank details

Others will advise recipients to click on fraudulent links so they can claim a refund or discount via email.

An example of this type of scam is: “MyGov: We tried to deposit your refund, but we had a problem [sic] with your bank details. Please [sic] confirm your details.’

Another version of this scam involves the scammer telling the recipient that they are eligible for $198.92 and must click the hyperlink.

After the final annual calculation, we have noticed that you are eligible for an amount of $198.82 AUD,” the email reads.

‘If you want to submit the application electronically, please fill in the form. Upon completion, you will be asked to confirm that the information in the document is correct.’

ScamWatch has shared several tips and tricks to help everyday Australians spot a scam text or email.

Bad grammar or punctuation are among the top red flags in scam messages.

Hyperlinks are also never included in email or text messages sent by myGov.

Emails sent by the government agency also do not include the logo and simply inform the recipient that they have received a new message in their inbox.

It comes as recent data has revealed that the number of fraudulent messages sent to ordinary Australians rose by a whopping 160 per cent in January compared to December.

Anyone who believes they may have already fallen victim to a myGov scam should immediately call the Services Australia Scams and Identity Theft Helpdesk.

Services Australia is warning anyone who has received a message claiming their account has been altered in any way should consider this a scam (stock image)