At this year’s SMSF Trustee Empowerment Day, co-hosted by smstrusteenews and the SMSF Association, the ATO put the issue of scams as the first order of business during its presentation.
This was a little out of the ordinary as matters involving the illegal early access to superannuation benefits is usually the number one item on the list.
By making this problem first cab off the rank in its presentation the regulator put on the table exactly how serious and prevalent scams are and how difficult it is for SMSF trustees to combat them.
To me one aspect the ATO highlighted really demonstrates just how difficult this is for trustees to deal with.
Like all consumers they are told to be super vigilant about situations that seem suspicious and be cautious about any type of communication they might receive in relation to transactions regarding their SMSF.
Ironically though this heightened degree of caution and awareness also makes it hard to know whether or not a warning about suspicious activity from the ATO is actually authentic. How would you know if you are being asked to question everything?
To this end the regulator pointed out it sends out sms text messages or emails directly to trustees if there are any changes made to the details of an SMSF. In doing so ATO director trustee experience Melissa Anstis stipulated: “Remember, we will never ask you to click links in our emails or text messages to confirm details.”
That really is important to know.
To further assist trustees in their efforts to guard against scams she noted the most common type of egregious activity the ATO is seeing relates to actions trustees are encouraged to do.
“The main type of scams that we see are those where scammers contact people, often out of the blue, cold calling, suggesting, and trying to convince you that you should set up a self-managed super fund and invest in their fraudulent product. Often, they promise high returns for a portion of your super for themselves,” Anstis said.
“We are seeing these types of investment scams becoming more sophisticated and more believable too so it’s more important now to be aware of what is out there, and how you can protect yourself.”
The regulator also stressed the importance to have trustees report an activity they may consider to be part of a scam as this will help the SMSF community at large.
But while the ATO can put in as many safeguards against scams as it possibly can, one message was loud and clear – “the responsibility for the fund’s assets and management ultimately lies with you as the trustee.”
No doubt the criminal mind is hard to outfox but it is paramount for SMSF trustees to do whatever they can to protect their retirement savings and thwart the efforts of these bad actors.
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