I received a phone call the other day from the Tax Office, or should I say, purportedly from the tax office. The recorded message suggested that I had failed to comply with some taxation obligation and that they had therefore issued a warrant for my arrest – yes, that’s right, arrest!

The only solution to this impending incarceration was to immediately ring ‘them’ and a phone number was duly re- cited for this purpose. They then concluded the call with an earnest warning of the impending consequences should I not comply.

Now my immediate reaction upon hanging up was “gee, haven’t professional standards dropped dramatically at the tax office”! Surely taxation officialdom could have at least afforded to add a couple more steps in between the trans- gression and a custodial sentence.

But as you have probably twigged to, rather than a monumental glitch in tax office protocols, it was another financial scam that we all seem to get these days. As easy as it would seem to pick, surpris- ingly many people do fall for them. Subsequent research has shown that this particular scam has netted the scammers approximately $800k and most probably much more as many people once stung, keep it quiet to avoid embarrassment.

I have personally witnessed during my time in banking, many cases of customers coming in declar- ing they have either been left millions of dollars from a relative who suddenly died in Europe, or a huge lottery win . But when questioned, have absolutely no recollection of any ancestral links with a European dynasty, or even recall entering the aforementioned lottery! Yet they are convinced they are the deserving recipients of this surprising windfall and simply need to remit $2,000 for ‘solicitor’s fees’ prior to the funds transfer!

I can assure you, no matter how much you try to dissuade someone from following the course of ac- tion; many ignore you and sadly learn a terribly hard lesson.

Remember, if you are ever in receipt of some surprise offer of a financial bonanza, or as I received, a financial threat, don’t act on it immediately – do some research, ask a relative or friend or speak to your bank. The rule has always been and will continue to be, whatever the offer, wherever it may seem to come from, if it is ‘too good to be true’ it usually is!