"It should be noted that while a driver's licence is often used as a de facto identity document, its original purpose was proof of a person's authority to drive," the spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman said a decision on implementing changeable driver's licence numbers would not be made until a policy and systems review for that agreement had been completed. "So often that will be telephone accounts, mobile phones are purchased, they might purchase iPads, tablets and things like that as well - so it can rack up to a lot of money," she said. Driver's licence the 'golden ticket' for criminalsĬhristine Jackson, security counsellor and centre manager for IDcare, a national support service for victims of identity crime, said when a driver's licence became compromised, criminals could open up lines of credit in the victim's name. It has taken many hours of her life to try to rectify the damage, including meetings at her bank and working with the WA Police, to help her remove the fraudulent loan application from her credit history.īut her driver's licence number, which was used to apply for the loan in the first place, could not be changed because she lives in WA, which issues one licence number per person for life.Īll other jurisdictions, aside from the Northern Territory, allow victims of identity crime to change their driver's licence number to protect themselves once their identity is compromised.īut experts say the process is convoluted and more challenging in some states than others, with the onus placed on the victim to repair their credit history and protect themselves after the crime. "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.Update your online banking, email and other passwords - use unique passwords for each account.Advise your bank and review your security arrangements.Place a ban on your credit file with those agencies - this can stop criminals accessing credit in your name.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. 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. 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. 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. As 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.
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