An increasing numbers of Australian home owners are becoming victims of fraud as criminals steal their identity and take out mortgages in their name.
"What we're seeing is organised crime groups taking over the identities of people who own their properties, which are unencumbered, and then masquerading as them and getting loans using the property as security," said Detective Superintendent Colin Dyson of New South Wales Police.
While traditionally fraudsters had to commit many crimes to receive a reasonable amount of money, just one high value mortgage fraud could net over one million dollars.
The criminals obtained identity information by stealing mail, stealing discarded documents from rubbish or stealing details online using keylogging viruses said Dyson. They then used that stolen information to create fake driver’s licenses and Medicare cards to show to prospective lenders.
Below are some tips to help protect your personal information.
Beware of phishers and vishers
Be wary of emails or phone calls that appear to come from your bank – these may be phishing (email) or vishing (phone) scams to get your personal details. Do not give your personal details out!
Don’t post your personal details online
Fraudsters may scour your profile for personal information which they can use to pass themselves off as you. Never put your personal financial information in an email.
Disable pop-ups
Clicking pop-up messages may allow others to download and install a program on your PC to spay on you and steal your identity.
Change your password often
Use a combination of letters, numbers and punctuation and change passwords frequently.
Safe online banking
When you visit secure sites, make sure you always log out. Avoid using public computers for internet banking. Most banks have PC’s in their branches where you can access internet banking securely.
Is the website secure?
If you’re asked to provide personal information online, check that the details in the address bar of the browser start with ‘https’ – the ‘s’ stands for ‘secure.’
Don’t throw out personal information
Fraudsters may go through your rubbish. Destroy account statements and cards to stop them getting hold of your personal information.
Check your credit report
Make sure your name isn’t being used to run up debts. Your credit report contains your personal details and shows credit applications and defaults. You can get a free copy of your credit report from My Credit File (Veda Advantage), Dun and Bradstreet or Tasmanian Collection Service.
