How to protect yourself from identity theft in Australia?

Identity crime is a significant threat in Australia, with a growing number of people falling victim to identity loss every year. Impersonated victims often face severe consequences, including financial losses, damage to their credit scores, and legal ramifications. But there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of having your personal information stolen or misused.

Experts advise keeping your devices updated with the latest software, including antivirus software. Source: Moment RF / krisanapong detraphiphat/Getty Images

Identity crime is a growing concern in Australia. It causes considerable financial losses to the Australian Government, private industry, and individuals.

Knowing how identity theft can occur can help you protect your personal information and lower the risks of falling victim.

Dr. Suranga Seneviratne is a Senior Lecturer in Security at the School of Computer Science at Sydney University.

He explains identity theft is when an individual’s personal information is stolen and used for fraudulent purposes and financial gain.

“This usually involves a scammer or an attacker taking a credit card on behalf of someone else, or in some cases, like taking a tax return, social benefits, or even a loan, by exploiting or by using personal information of someone else. The target person might be totally oblivious to the fact that actually he's being exploited.”

According to Scamwatch, a website run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to educate the public on recognising, avoiding and reporting scams, Australians reported $568 million [dollars] in losses to scams in 2022.

That figure represents almost an 80% increase from the losses reported the previous year, which were just over $320 million. Given scam victims don't often report losses to authorities, experts believe these statistics may be significantly underestimated.

There are many ways in which identity theft can occur. Some methods to steal data include phishing, skimming, social engineering, hacking, and dumpster diving. Identity theft can occur online or offline, or a combination of both.

The ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe says even the less valuable pieces of information can become useful to scammers once aggregated.

“Things like your name, your address, your phone number on their own probably can't do a lot, but potentially when combined with other pieces of information, they become more powerful. There are identity documents that are particularly sought after, so the ones to be particularly careful about are driver's license, passport, and Medicare card. But even simple documents like old bills or bank statements can still provide some valuable information.”