The Federal Government is urging businesses to be wary of a rising number of carbon price scams, as the 1 July launch date for the emissions tax draws closer.
Julia Gillard’s carbon tax legislation will come into effect in a little over six weeks, with the country’s 500 worst polluters to pay a price of $23 per tonne of carbon, with this to rise by 2.5 percent per annum each year after 2012.
With this date nearing, SCAMwatch is warning businesses to be on the look our for carbon price scams, which could come in the form of phone calls and fake websites looking for personal banking details to pay a carbon tax compensation into a bank account, or to sell fake carbon credits.
Business can follow these steps to protect themselves:
- Be alert to scam survey calls or websites asking for personal, business or financial details.
- Don’t provide or confirm your personal or business details over the phone unless you made the call using contact details you found yourself and you trust the information.
- Don’t enter your credit card or banking details on a website unless you have checked it’s authentic and secure.
- Avoid having a large number of staff authorised to make orders or pay invoices – this will reduce the risk of your business paying for something that is not required or is not legitimate.
Any business owner who spots a scam or suspects they’ve been scammed, can report it by clicking here.
