Lee-Anne McLean told 9News her life was turned upside down when hackers ported her phone, allowing them access to her accounts.
“They were able to change my email, passwords, they broke into my social media and they opened bank loans all within a matter of 24 hours,” McLean said.
“I have security on my phone and my computer, so I’m not sure how they got all my personal information but I would really like to know.”
Unauthorised porting refers to fraudsters using personal data to move your phone number to a different telecommunications provider.
It allows criminals to take control of your phone number, meaning they can receive SMS messages like two-factor authentication codes to authorise bank transactions and access social media accounts.
“The equivalent here is you’ve been in your house and the criminal is burgling right in front of your eyes and that’s what makes this much more traumatising for a lot of individuals,” ID Care managing director Dave Lacey said.
The challenge for authorities is that about a million Australians port their phone legitimately every year.
Experts warn if you receive a text message from your telco about porting your number, you should contact them immediately, as well as your bank to temporarily freeze your accounts, until you can make sure your information is safe.
“This is an absolute privacy violation,” McLean said.
“My days are basically taken up by trying to prove who I am again, and piece by piece trying to put my life back together.”
The telecommunications ombudsman is investigating McLean’s case.
As phone porting scams become more common, there are calls for urgent changes to the way companies manage personal data.
“There’s a pretty easy way to potentially fix this problem and that is wait for the person to actually validate that they have requested the port itself,” Lacey said.
