SOUTHERN DOWNS residents have again become the target of a malicious telephone scam.

Warwick resident Leanne Taylor said she had been called a few times this week with what claimed to be a recorded message from the Australian Tax Office.

“The message says the ATO has tried to contact me regarding non-payment of backtaxes and due to my non-compliance, they have no alternative but to issue a warrant for my arrest,” she said.

“They then leave a number to call back on, it’s all from someone with an Indian accent.

“It’s obviously a scam but I worry there are others in the community who might be a little bit more trusting or fearful due to the nature of the message and comply with something that could see them lose money or personal information to these criminals.”

Officer-in-charge of Warwick police station Jamie Deacon said residents should be extremely wary of phonecalls that claimed to be from financial or government institutions.

“It is very rare an organisation like this will call you without already having your details on hand,” he said.

“They would also clearly stipulate at the beginning of the call, the reason for calling.

“But it’s always the best practice to refrain from giving any personal financial information over the phone, especially if you’re not 100% confident who you are speaking to.”

The ATO also warns of a phone scam where fraudsters are intimidating people into paying a fake tax debt over the phone.

Assistant Commissioner Thomas Ryan said the ATO made thousands of calls to taxpayers a week, but would never contact taxpayers about a debt in this threatening manner.

“We take your privacy seriously. We urge you to be alert to these types of scams and never send money or give your financial details to someone you don’t know and trust,” Mr Ryan said.

“Generally the ATO would send an SMS or letter to remind you that a payment was due. If we don't get a response from this we would then call you to discuss payment. If you do have a tax debt we encourage you to contact us early on 1800008540 so we can discuss your circumstances.”

People should also contact the ATO via the above number if they think they may have been targeted by a phone scam.