Email from Department of Human Services

[B1K3R]

Hello folks

Hope you guys are all good :cute:

 

I got an email today from Department of Human Services from OZ and I'm wondering if this email is some kind of spam or not.

 

Have you ever receive something similar, and if not, do you think this email is spam or it's true that the Department of Human Services is trying to contact me?

 

Cheers and take care!!!

 

B!K3R

 

//*********************************************************************************************//

From: overseas.datamatchingteam@humanservices.gov.au

To: somedude@mail.com;

Subject: Please contact Department of Human Services [sEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:55:15 +1000

 

Good morning/evening

 

This is an e-mail for SomeDude

 

Please contact me regarding your absence overseas as Department of Human Services entitlements are often affected when customers travel outside Australia.

 

You can telephone me on +61 3 62 222 019 we will accept reverse charges on these numbers. Or you can telephone me on free call 1800 060 855 (if calling from within Australia).

 

If you leave a message on our answering service please provide your Customer Reference Number and the full overseas contact number, including country and area code and a preferred contact time, so that I can call you between 08:30 and 16:30 Eastern Australian Standard Time (EAST).

 

Or if you need an interpreter you can call 13 1202 (or +61 3 6222 3455 if calling from overseas) and ask for the language you need and they will contact me so we can discuss this in your preferred language. Again this must be done between 08:30 and 16:30 EAST.

 

I look forward to speaking with you soon.

 

Regards

 

Lloyd

Immigration Data Matching Team

Department of Human Services

[AJ]

You never know, we came back for an extended holiday and had to inform Family Assistance of our movement as we were planning on going back within a year. All the goverment departments are linked over there so they might know you have left. Just to make sure I would phone Centrelink but go into their website and use the number on there. best to make sure

[Petals]

I think that the department would write you a letter. They always write to us. Later on this year they are not going to be sending out letters and statements but they say we have to access the information on line. I was talking to the department today and I cannot imagine that they would email anyone as passwords and questions have to be answered before they discuss anything.

[fish.01]

I think that the department would write you a letter. They always write to us. Later on this year they are not going to be sending out letters and statements but they say we have to access the information on line. I was talking to the department today and I cannot imagine that they would email anyone as passwords and questions have to be answered before they discuss anything.

 

Just a guess, but maybe they are emailing as they know they are overseas but don't know where so have no mailing address? They might have already had a letter returned? When you call they may go through the identity checks then?

 

Did you tick the Dependent Spouse Tax Offset option on your tax return by any chance

 

http://blog.lewistaxation.com.au/taxation/ato-data-matching-dependant-spouse

 

http://www.dlegal.com.au/m/immigration-and-tax-office-data-matching

[B1K3R]

Thank you guys for your feedback

 

Hello Fish.01 my friend.

 

Regarding the "tick the Dependent Spouse Tax Offset option on your tax return"..I have no idea! Before I left, I went to HR Block and they had filled everything for me.

 

I did contacted (through their online portal and phone) centerlink many times to cancel the benefits, but they don't want to listen, hehe.

 

I'll giv'em a call today and check what's this about, doesn't seem a spam then

 

Cheers

[lucylou1]

ahhhh...just had a similar situation. Centrelink to me that they data match with DIAC and then obviously Centrelink will data match with Human Services. Basically they know you've travelled/gone overseas and want to clarify with you the situation. I have been told you need to let Centrelink AND Human Services know you are travelling out of the country. If you do not reply they will assume rightly or wrongly that you have left indefinitely and cancel/change your payment/s. I would suggest ringing them on the phone numbers you have received on paperwork previously from Human Services which will also have your reference number printed on it.

I would suggest not to ignore the email, as I have just been told they use numerous methods to try to contact you and email is just one of them. Good luck.

[B1K3R]

I have been told you need to let Centrelink AND Human Services know you are travelling out of the country. If you do not reply they will assume rightly or wrongly that you have left indefinitely and cancel/change your payment/s.

 

I had called them 3 times and also contacted them through centerlink portal to let them know but it seems they didn't get the message

[AJ]

Just to let you know - your email is genuine, I got one as well and I called. After 6 months they do a review if you are out of the country. We are going back in July, so they just wanted to update our file and we can sort payments out when we do our tax return.

[Petals]

Bet a lot of people do not answer thinking they are spam.

[Guest]

I threw the email into google. Got nothing back on that specific one.

 

FWIW, this page lists the overseas numbers you call and the UK is an 0800 number it seems (so free)

 

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/contact_us/phone.htm#overseas

 

The phone pages also has this, make of it what you will.

 

Note:

If you are calling from a country not listed above, or if the international numbers listed are not available, you can call us on +613 6222 3455. Call charges apply and calls from mobile phones may be charged at a higher rate. If you prefer, you can leave a message on our answering service and we will return your call.

 

 

 

 

 

And if I were you, I'd email them using not the email addy it was sent from but the official contact from their website and send them a copy of the email and see if they know anything about it. Explain you are not sure if its genuine etc.

 

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/contact_us/index.htm

 

ETA - Seems AJ has vouched for it

[AJ]

I threw the email into google. Got nothing back on that specific one.

 

FWIW, this page lists the overseas numbers you call and the UK is an 0800 number it seems (so free)

 

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/contact_us/phone.htm#overseas

 

The phone pages also has this, make of it what you will.

 

Note:

If you are calling from a country not listed above, or if the international numbers listed are not available, you can call us on +613 6222 3455. Call charges apply and calls from mobile phones may be charged at a higher rate. If you prefer, you can leave a message on our answering service and we will return your call.

 

 

 

 

 

And if I were you, I'd email them using not the email addy it was sent from but the official contact from their website and send them a copy of the email and see if they know anything about it. Explain you are not sure if its genuine etc.

 

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/contact_us/index.htm

 

ETA - Seems AJ has vouched for it

 

As already advised it is genuine. I have emailed them previously and the girl I spoke to today said they will not email you back as it could be anyone sending the email. They email you to the email address they have on file for you and ask you to call so they know you are the genuine person. You will not find this email address i dont think because usually it is a central email address for contacting the department that they have on websites, same as a lot of other companies etc.

[Guest]

As already advised it is genuine.

 

Yeah, I saw that after I had posted and did an ETA to my post rather than delete everything

[AJ]

no problem.