Fed: It's not just the material stuff that thieves are after

AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2006
Fed: It's not just the material stuff that thieves are after

(EDS: Embargoed until 0001 AEDT February 16, 2006)



By Amy Fallon

SYDNEY, Feb 16 AAP - Increasing numbers of Australians are finding it hard to hold
onto their identity - and the ID thieves are getting away with millions of dollars.

A report published in the latest Choice Money and Rights magazine warns that savvy
fraudsters are finding easy pickings in illegally accessing people's personal and financial
details.

Choice said more Australians were now susceptible because of the combination of increasingly
widespread internet use, poor business practices and weak privacy laws.

Although thieves prefer to physically steal personal information from their victim,
vulnerable business databases make it easier for them to make fraudulent transactions.

They simply apply for credit, buy goods or open accounts in a person's name.

Last June, 40 million credit cards around the world, including 130,000 in Australia,
were caught up in a security breach involving the fraudulent access of information held
by a US company that processed credit cards.

In one Australian case in which thieves stole the identity of a North Queensland woman,
they used her personal details to create a credit card in her name.

Once approved, they then racked up $20,000 on the plastic.

In another, Victorian authorities successfully prosecuted a man for taking over the
identities of 10 people, which he created from stolen letters and wallets.

The crime is proving extremely inconvenient for everyone who is targeted, with victims
having to replace bank cards and clear their credit record.

Choice said the most recent report from the Securities Institute Research Centre of
Asia-Pacific (SIRCA) put the cost of ID fraud at $1.1 billion between 2001-02.

The report said financial regulations should be amended to make businesses more responsible
for protecting sensitive data.

It recommended more scope and funding be given to the privacy commissioner.

The national identity security strategy, now under development, should deliver more
secure ID management systems and methods allowing consumers more confidence over their
personal information, it said.

But consumers must also look out for themselves.

Steps they can take include choosing passwords that are difficult to guess, limiting
the amount of credit they have in accounts and even locking the letterbox.

AAP af/was/sd

KEYWORD: IDENTITY (EMBARGOED)

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