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According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), last year 13 per cent of all Australian taxpayers (1.5 million people) lodged their tax return online, a 17 per cent increase on the previous year. This year, e-tax is likely to outnumber phone and paper lodgements for the first time with a record-breaking 1.9 million people expected to lodge their returns online.

Due to the growing popularity of ATO's online services, taxpayers are more likely to become profitable prey for cyber criminals.

The most likely threats F-Secure expects to see are scam emails leading to phishing websites, which lure tax payers into disclosing their credit card or bank account details with the promise of an early tax refund.

With critical information such as your tax file number, date of birth, postal address, phone number, bank account details, and salary information disclosed, the victim is prone to identify theft – either executed online or over the phone.

Wing Fei Chia, security response team manager at F-Secure's Security Labs says that "… we know from other countries such as the US, that sophisticated security measures don't stop cyber criminals from creating new exploits."

He advises that "tax payers should be particularly cautious when an email apparently coming from ATO prompts them to update their certificate – you think you do the right thing but instead you might install a Trojan on your computer."