Identity theft

Your personal information can be used to steal your identity.

Identity theft definition

Identity theft is when a fraudster gains access to your personal information to gain some sort of benefit.

Your identity can be stolen if a thief accesses your personal information, including any document that contains information about you. Even if a thief only accesses a small amount of your personal information, they may be able to steal your identity if they can find out more about you from public sources. This includes social media accounts which may include your date of birth, photos and information about your family.

What can a criminal do once they steal your identity?

• Apply for real documents in your name, but with another person’s photograph.
• Get loans.
• Apply for a credit card in your name.
• Open a bank account in your name.
• Building a society account in your name.
• Run up debts.
• Apply for benefits in your name (Income support, job seeker, child benefit, tax credit).
• Register a vehicle in your name.
• Apply for a mobile phone contract in your name.

Identification information that may be stolen

Examples of identification information that fraudsters can use include your:

• Driver’s licence.
• Passport.
• Citizenship details.
• Bank account details.
• Credit card details.
• Personal information such as name, address or date of birth.
• Medicare card.
• Birth certificate.
• Visa.
• Marriage certificate.

How can I tell if I'm a victim of identity theft?

You may already be a victim of identity theft if:

• Items have appeared on your bank or credit card statements that you don’t recognise.
• You applied for a government benefit but are told that you are already claiming.
• You receive bills, invoices or receipts addressed to you for goods or services you haven't asked for.
• You have been refused a financial service, such as a credit card or a loan, despite having a good credit history.
• A mobile phone contract has been set up in your name without your knowledge.
• You have received letters from solicitors or debt collectors for debts that aren't yours.
• You don’t receive letters or emails you were receiving before.
• You receive unusual emails.
• Increase in suspicious phone calls, texts or messages through social platforms.

What to do if someone steals your identity?

Act quickly.

You may have been notified about a data breach directly, for example via email, or indirectly, via another organisation. By acting quickly you can reduce the chances of experiencing harm.

It is essential to:

• Act quickly to reduce your risk of harm.
• Report the breach to your bank.
• Monitor your bank accounts for any suspicious transaction.
• Monitor your credit report - Backy Check offers a monitoring service (Credit Check Premium).
• Change your passwords.
• Take extra care with your emails.
• Take care of phone calls.
• Check your account statements.
• Never share any details from calls you receive or emails, if you have any questions to ask any government agency, call them by looking on their website contact page.

How to report identity theft?

It is important you act quickly.

1. Report the fraud to your local police.
2. Contact the organisation or agency that issued the document and tell them what happened.
3. Report the cybercrime to the Australian Cyber Security Centre at ReportCyber .
4. Get a credit report and monitor it with Backy Check.

How does identity theft occur?

There are a lot of ways a criminal can obtain your personal information.

• Steal your wallet with your documents inside.
• Dig through your trash.
• Access your mailbox.
• Fill out change of address forms to forward mails.
• Ask you directly through emails and phone calls.
• Design a website that looks the same as the one you usually use, like the bank one.
• Steal electronic records through a data breach.
• Buy data records on the dark web.
• Skim information from an ATM or EFTPOS. This is done by placing an electronic device attached to the ATM or EFTPOS.
• Social engineering. It is a practice of someone either in person or over the phone, using means to derive someone else into divulging sensitive information.
• By building websites with offers that are too good to be true.

How to prevent identity theft?

Some of the steps to reduce the risk of having your personal information stolen are:

• Monitor some of the above credit activities by checking your credit report monthly with Backy Check.
• Secure your mailbox.
• Destroy your financial and personal papers before you through them away.
• Always cover the keypad at ATMs and on EFTPOS terminals. There may also be strange or loose fixtures attached to the machines, that fraudster may have placed before cloning your card.
• Ensure your computer is protected and the software is up to date.
• Don’t use public WiFi or public computer to access your personal information or bank websites.
• Regularly review your bank statement.
• Never give personal information over the phone or email. Call the institutions or organisations directly by checking their contact details on their websites.

Identity crime in the Commonwealth

Commonwealth identity crime occurs where the following three elements are proven:

• Person makes, supplies or uses identification information (yours, or a third party's).
• They do this intending that either they or someone else will pretend to be you or another person (who is living, dead, real or fictitious).
• The act of pretending would be done to commit or help commit a Commonwealth indictable offence.

A Commonwealth indictable offence is an offence against a Commonwealth law that is punishable by more than twelve months imprisonment. For the Commonwealth identity crime offence to be committed, someone only needs to intend to pass themselves off as another person, regardless of whether this actually happened.

Examples of victims of Commonwealth identity crime are when:

• Your birth certificate was used by someone else to falsely claim payment from Centrelink in your name.
• A person pretended to be you by using your identification details to have your Medicare rebates redirected to their bank account.
• A person used your credit card without your permission to purchase and import illegal substances.
• A person established a false business in your name to fraudulently claim GST.
• A person used your passport or citizenship details to pass themselves off as you and travel overseas.

Certificates for victims of Commonwealth identity crime

The Attorney-General's Department administers a scheme associated with the provision of certificates where an individual or a business is the victim of Commonwealth identity crime.

If you or your business is a victim of identity crime and you have a Commonwealth Victims' Certificate, you may present the certificate and any other relevant information to a government agency or other organisation. The certificate will help support your claim that you have been a victim of Commonwealth identity crime and will allow you to seek assistance in rectifying the problems you have suffered as a consequence of the crime. The certificate doesn’t, however, bind an organisation to take action.

Visit the Home Affairs website for more information about Commonwealth Victims' Certificates .

How to recover from identity theft?

iDcare

iDcare is a national support centre for victims of identity crime. iDcare offers a free service to assist victims with repairing the damage to their reputation, credit history and identity information. For more information visit the IDcare website or call 1800 595 160.

Identity theft distress

A data breach can be stressful and cause distress. Contact a support service or reach out to your family and friends for support.

Some of the services available for help:

Useful links and sources

• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• Department of Home Affairs
• iDcare
• ReportCyber
• SCAMwatch
• AFP