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Identity fraud

What is identity theft or identity fraud?

Identity theft, also known as ID Theft, ID Fraud, or Identity Fraud, happens when someone steals or assumes a the identity of someone else (living or deceased ). Pretending to be another person, or acting in that other person’s capacity with the intent to deceive is against the law. Compared with other personal and theft-related crimes (i.e. assault, robbery, break-ins and motor vehicle theft), identity crime is one of the most common crime affecting Australians each year.

On average state and territory police charge over 550 people a week with identity crimes and each year around 24,000 offenders are proven guilty in a court of law. 

Each year around 4 to 5% of Australians (around 750,000 to 937,000 people) lose money through an identity crime resulting in a financial loss. However, a considerable proportion of incidents go unreported.

While the majority of identity victims lose relatively small amounts of money (up to $1,000), in some cases losses can run to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A significant proportion of victims also experience demands on their time or other adverse impacts to their mental or physical health, reputations or general wellbeing.

How to prevent it

Protecting your identity can be as simple as these 10 identity security tips:

  1. Don’t provide your PIN or Internet banking login or password to anyone

  2. Lock up your personal documents at home and when you are travelling, if you need to dispose of old documents or copies, destroy them

  3. Put a lock on your mailbox and when you move, redirect your mail.

  4. Be aware when use social media and limit the amount of personal information (your date of birth, current address, driver’s licence number and passport details) 

  5. Keep your anti-virus and firewall software up-to-date and secure your home computer, network and mobile phone with security software and strong passwords and avoid using public computers for sensitive activities.

  6. Be very careful about clicking on links in e-mails or text messages. Do not use links to access trusted numbers of websites. Always enter the correct address for websites into the address bar of your browser and look up numbers from a legitimate directory 

  7. Learn how to avoid common scams at wascamnet

  8. Be cautious about requests for your personal information over the internet, phone and in person in case it is a scam.

  9. If you get a bill for goods and services that you haven’t ordered - investigate it promptly.

  10. Be alert for any unusual bank statements, transactions or missing mail.

What to do if you have had your identity stolen 

Identity theft can be very serious, both financially and emotionally. Follow these guidelines to protect yourself and always alert the authorities if you suspect your details have been stolen or are being misused.

  1. Report any suspected crime. - For physical loss of property, contact your local police.  For a digital loss of information in Australia, report a cybercrime to ACORN. Ask for a copy of the police report as banks and financial institutions will want to see it.

  2. Apply for a Commonwealth Victims’ Certificate - This Certificate is a further piece of information that you can use  to help support your claim that you have been the victim of Commonwealth identity crime. This may help you to rectify your business or personal affairs.

  3. Contact your bank or financial institution - Tell your bank, credit provider or the relevant company what has happened. If any accounts have been opened with your stolen details, ask for them to be closed or cancelled. You may need to ask them to set you up new accounts and PINs.

  4. Inform the relevant government agency or business - If your driver's licence, passport, citizenship papers, Medicare card, birth, marriage and change of name certificates, tax file number, superannuation or pension details have been stolen, let the relevant agency know. Similarly, if your financial documents or investment reports were taken, alert your stock broker, financial planner or fund manager.

  5. Get a copy of your credit report - You should tell the credit reporting agency that you have been a victim of identity theft so they can note it in your file. Check your credit report to see what companies have checked your credit history recently, and let them know not to authorise any new accounts in your name. Get a copy of your credit report from one of these reporting agencies

  6. Get help from iDcare -  iDcare is a free government industry service which works with you to develop specific response plans to reduce the risk and impact of identity fraud.