Risks Assessment - Providing Medicare Details over The Phone to Activate SIM with Optus

AmorPax on 30/12/2024 - 21:30
Last edited 30/12/2024 - 22:07 by 1 other user

Hi there, I hope you’re doing well. I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I thought I’d try anyway. I’d appreciate it if people could share their experiences.

Recently, I provided my Medicare information to Optus staff for the activation of my prepaid SIM card, but I wasn’t able to complete the process online as I received this error:-

The porting process for this number requires manual input. Please start a chat with us so we can sort this out.

Even the chat staff was not able to help, so I needed to resolve the issue via phone.

What risks might I be exposing myself to? Should I be concerned?

Share your thoughts.

Thank you in advance.

Poll Options

  • 43
    Yes, I am comfortable providing the info as part of the SIM activation process.
  • 8
    No, it’s too risky; I won’t provide the info as I’m unsure about the staff's reputation.
  • 7
    I would report to Medicare immediately to change my Medicare number.
  • 1
    I’m not sure what to do
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Comments

  • coffeeinmyveins on 30/12/2024 - 21:32
    +9

    optus are 100% safe and your data will never get leaked.

    Seriously though, I've provided my CC details over the phone, and more. These are all risks you take to access services.

    The only way around this is to not go with optus and hope that you don't need a similar activation process with another carrier.

    • Guybrush57 on 30/12/2024 - 21:37
      -8

      optus are 100% safe and your data will never get leaked

      Uhhhhh… BUH BOW

      • coffeeinmyveins on 30/12/2024 - 21:48
        +31

        There's no way you missed the sarcasm in that mate.

        • Guybrush57 on 30/12/2024 - 21:53
          -2

          I must have. I thought you were being serious

  • Downvoter on 30/12/2024 - 21:36
    +1

    You’re about to be pwned

  • mskeggs on 30/12/2024 - 21:53

    Would you provide these details in a healthcare setting?

  • Gunnar on 30/12/2024 - 21:54
    +3

    FFS

  • GordonD on 30/12/2024 - 21:54
    +1

    I'm truly puzzled. What is the relevance of your "Medicare information" to a phone company activating a SIM?

    • MS Paint on 30/12/2024 - 22:02
      +12

      It is a widely accepted form of official identification.

      • GordonD on 31/12/2024 - 08:33
        +3

        OK. Well if its widely accepted, then its probably not a problem. Unless it was an organisation as careless as Optus that you provided it to.

      • HeWhoKnows on 31/12/2024 - 12:37
        -2

        Medicare number is much safer than providing Drivers Licence or passport details as ID

        Not much they can do with a medicare card number

        • Nickels n Dimes on 31/12/2024 - 13:37
          +3

          Medicare cards are a part of your idenity information, and it's weighted about as much as a license for ID, but the fact it can have every member of your household on it, has a a couple of simple numbers on it and lacks any photo to verifiy the holder, makes it very much easier to misuse.

  • elgrande on 30/12/2024 - 22:04
    +6

    Are you worried somone may attend a GP, as you?

    • hazzad on 31/12/2024 - 07:21
      +4

      Less about your example and more about someone gaining enough data about you to assume your identify. One piece of your personal information may not seem much but pieced together with several pieces of information it becomes a concern.

      I do work for chemist warehouse as a contractor and was shocked when I was recently required to provide my license details, along with them taking a photo of it. The less my information is out there, the less likely it is someone will use it for fraudulent means. I know it's unlikely but I'm sure that is what every person who has suffered identify theft has also thought until it happens. Prefer to prevent than have to fight after the fact.

  • CodeXD on 30/12/2024 - 22:40
    +1

    You should also be able to do it in store for piece of mind.

    • Protractor on 30/12/2024 - 23:19
      +5

      and peace of mind as well..

      • CodeXD on 30/12/2024 - 23:25
        +3

        and peace of mine

  • 7ekn00 on 30/12/2024 - 23:00
    +4

    Optus likes all your info, give them your passport, drivers licenses and house bills too!!

    They make much more money from selling your info on the dark web than they do from Telco stuff ;)

  • Protractor on 30/12/2024 - 23:19
    +3

    This shit has to end. As does offshore support for any Australian company taking our money.
    This is the very reason ID theft and scamming via phone,email and landlines has proliferated. Both sides of govt have enabled this crap.
    If any company ( onshore) wants specific data to identify us they should reciprocate by providing the full name of the support agent, and send you a verbatim copy of the entire dialogue. Every single support person should be police cleared(state and national) and be on a public register of authorised 'inquisitors'. What's good for Optus is good for us.

    • RogerLoger on 31/12/2024 - 05:26

      Laws overseas are so slack, you can grab a SIM and el-cheap phone and set up a burner without too much trouble. Here, phone companies need to cover off the same ID check as you'd go through to get a passport or driver's licence. Which is worse. I'll stick with what we have (as if we have a choice in the nanny country), but I suspect it is mostly keeping honest people honest.

      • Protractor on 31/12/2024 - 09:59

        I'm aware OS laws are shit, hence not wanting the criminals in call centres accessing my ID,data or any other details unless and until I permit it. With big Australian companies we have lost that choice. We are entitles to have the same level of information both ways.Banks,ISPs insurance ALL using pseudo scammers/criminals in OS call centres.All to save money.It's a scam within a scam. If phone companies want to keep honest ppl honest, they'd never use OS slavery. If the laws OS are so slack, I full expect police clearances to be dodgy as well. Paid for ,forged.made up? Who knows? What we know is our govt and the ACCC don't care. Corporate cock wombling 101

    • Nickels n Dimes on 31/12/2024 - 13:52

      Agreed. Every step the government made to date to tighten the system, just makes it harder and harder to fix the problems they were supposedly going to solve. Now an ordinary person has to jump through so many ID hoops, even just to view a short message from a govt department, but a rogue employee at a call centre here or overseas for any department or any flaky corporation (like Optus) can collect and later share your data.
      You have to authenticate yourself to companies like Optus for meaningless stuff like activating a new phone SIM, using personal details that even your bank's mortgage department wouldn't have asked for a few years ago, and there are so many opportunities for MIM / data skimming apps to scoop it all up without anyone knowing.

  • Joey2scoops on 31/12/2024 - 08:10

    "chat staff" lol

  • ihfree on 31/12/2024 - 08:52

    Big mistake. Optus will use your card for employee health care and Gladys will use your funds to build 5G coverage in Wagga Wagga.

  • larndis on 31/12/2024 - 09:48
    -1

    I'm not sure it's possible to change your medicare number

    • Nickels n Dimes on 31/12/2024 - 13:39

      You can change it through MyGov, they will send out a new card with an updated expiry and change the last digit on the card number, which is a version number.

      • larndis on 01/01/2025 - 18:44

        Sure, the expiry date and last digit get updated every time a new card is issued, I wouldn't exactly call that 'getting a new medicare number'. But yes, it would make it harder to do anything with the info.

  • Chewy2221 on 31/12/2024 - 10:14

    I would suspect that someone's rear end got kicked over the previous Optus hack. I would tend to think that they have learnt a lot, so suspect that their systems are a lot more robust than previously. The risk in providing the information is small but certainly NOT zero. Each of us must assess our risk tolerance in deciding whether to provide the requested information. This is the world we live in.
    .

    • Protractor on 31/12/2024 - 13:57

      Robust? If there were any goal posts or the govt and ACCC had brains Optus would have been the last disaster for some time. Ask Total Tools customers. How long ago did the Optus hack occur, who learned what and what did the govt put in place to ensure non-repetition of the situation. Hint, nada.
      There is not even a simple regulation that forces hacked companies to notify affected customers immmediately. They all deny,delay and hide the truth

  • xylarr on 31/12/2024 - 14:41

    So this happened to my partner. What worked was to use a browser that was not safari, tried Chrome on an apple laptop.

    So I don't know if it is a transient error or not, but try another browser.

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