Hi, an elderly, vulnerable friend received a telephone call purporting to be from the AFP stating that they were going to arrest him for a $5M fraud. During the conversation they extracted his address, date of birth and banking institution. He is desperately worried that they will use this information to perpetrate identity fraud. What can he do to prevent this happening? Would appreciate any advice. Many thanks in advance.
Potential Identity Fraud - Scam Call
aretsa9 on 20/06/2020 - 13:01
Comments
Or sooner, leaving it every minute means the risk increases
They could contact the bank fraud area and let them know the situation and get them to flag their account to be not changed/transfer limits or blocks put in
Immediately advise his bank as per above.
It's important that you tell your friend not to repeat what he just did.
AFP found out he stole $5M but can't figure out his address? And he gave it away?Also tell him I can fix this for free, just PM me exactly every single thing he told the scammer :)
Tell him you can sort it out for him but will need access to his bank account.
Report it to
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam
It may help stop other vulnerable people from falling for this scam.
name address and dob are key proof of identity markers. if they're a local, all they need to do is steal a bit of mail, and they can do a lot of damage.
he should alert the banks and given the high amounts of tax fraud this time of year, may need to alert the ato to be extra precautionary.
make sure his MyGov password isn't something obvious and that 2 factor authentication (text message) is set up
Hello, this is Ozbargain. You have been randomly selected to receive a free premium account. Before we are able to do that, please provide your full name, date of birth, address, passwords, fingerprints, DNA sample, and dental records.
Nice advice, lets hope oneday you too make a mistake….
What can he do to prevent this happening?
Not divulge personal information to cold callers.
Sounds like a regular AFP call, nothing to worry about
Any chance he actually did commit the $5 million fraud, by the way?
Now you're asking the important questions
Many thanks, everyone, for taking the time to advise. What I'm particularly worried about is someone using this information to set up accounts, loans etc in his name. My fear too is that someone could set also up a phone account to receive the authentication codes. We will liaise with the bank and scamwatch (thanks Hithere). I guess I should also set up a credit score account in his name which could act as an alert to new account activity. Cheers
Maybe a good idea to put a ban on his credit report? Refer https://www.idcare.org/fact-sheets/credit-bans-australia
What is a Credit Ban?
When a ban is put in place it ‘freezes’ access to your credit file. This means that the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA’s) are not able to disclose any personal information from your consumer credit file to any credit providers unless you provide written consent for them to do so, or if they are required by law.Credit Bans
A ban on your credit file does not impact your current credit line or credit payments unless credit is due for renewal (e.g.credit card about to expire). You will still be able to use any credit cards you currently hold and repay any existing loans.A ban is initially valid for 21 days. An extension may be provided with evidence supporting that you are, or are at risk of becoming, a victim of fraud. In most cases this will require you to show that you have either a police report number or a www.cyber.gov.au report number. You will need to apply for bans with all 3 Australian CRA's:
Equifax
illion
ExperianMany thanks, kayesskay, much appreciated.
hey, i work as a consultant under the financial crimes unit in one of the big 4 banks. Here's my 2 cents. Ask you friend to first and foremost inform his bank (so that they will be on the lookout for potential imposters calling up), second visit idcare.org (they have free consultants who will give him a detailed rundown of steps he should be taking such as running credit report checks and what not), finally to better inform himself, ask him to also visit scamwatch.gov.au, lots of examples of different types of scams on their website
Hope that helps
Many thanks, much appreciated.
He should contact the bank immediately and explain what happened.