"You think of overseas hackers and people working overseas in other countries, but it's happening right here on our doorsteps. "You just go to your local store, you lose … your wallet or your phone, and you're suddenly exposed to this kind of fraud happening right here in WA. "That was a shock to my system, I was really really distressed," she said. When she contacted her bank she learned an entire profile had been created in her name, along with the $100,000 credit application. Pulling her credit history from credit reporting agency Equifax, she learned someone had tried to take out a $100,000 credit card in her name. Contact IDcare - they have trained counsellors who can support you.Monitor your phone closely - if it suddenly stops working it may have been ported.This is to limit the damage done by SIM swaps and phone porting.Set up multi-factor authentication - where possible don't just use SMS, use something like an authenticator app.
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Contact the three major Australian credit reporting agencies Equifax, Illion and Experian, and obtain a free copy of your credit file.File a report at the Australian Cyber Security Centre.Her brother, a cyber-security expert, looked over the email and told her she should call police.Ī detective told her that her driver's licence number and an unknown debit card had been found by police in a notebook in a Perth house, along with the details of other victims of suspected fraud. Her case has called into question how ready Australia's authorities are to deal with the rising threat of identity theft, with experts saying the system is failing victims and leaving people vulnerable to further abuse.ĭo you know more about this story? Contact Rebecca Trigger A black book of victim's detailsĪ cautious person by nature, Silvana thought it was a hoax when months after she lost her cards she received an email from the WA Police. She lives in a state, Western Australia, where it is impossible to change her driver's licence number, and that number has now been permanently compromised. Scammers had already managed to secure what is known in the security industry as the "golden ticket" to her identity - the driver's licence - and quickly moved to exploit it.įor Silvana, whose surname the ABC has chosen not to publish, the gravity of the situation was revealed when she discovered her bank was poised to give a $100,000 loan to a criminal in her name.īut then an even worse realisation dawned on her - for the rest of her life she would remain exposed to this type of attack. Driver's licences are one of the main forms of ID used when applying for financeĪs soon as she realised her mistake she cancelled her phone contract and credit card, and deleted her phone data remotely.īut she was too late.Some jurisdictions don't let victims change driver's licence details if they are stolen.Identity theft is a growing problem in Australia, costing $2.2 billion per year.Silvana's identity theft nightmare started in such a simple way - juggling shopping and two young children at a department store, she left her mobile phone behind in a case containing her credit card and driver's licence.