Sharon received a notification back in 2020 that someone was attempting to access her personal MyGov account.
Despite catching it early, changing her password immediately and contacting authorities, hackers are still accessing her data, nearly three years on.
The Melbourne woman is one of many whose account has been targeted by hackers and is warning people to take extreme care with their online security.
“I’m still battling scammers and fraud,” Sharon told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.
Hackers harvested her data from the Australian Tax Office, Medicare and Centrelink, and last year claimed $47,000 from ATO under business activity statements.
Scammers have continued to apply for credit cards in her name and have threatened to publish her details on the dark web.
“It’s been a nightmare, it’s just been so consuming,” Sharon said.
“They hacked my account on MyGov and I don’t know how they did that.
“It all started in 2020, and I have got a file probably 25cm thick, I’ve had to do so much, it consumes you.”
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Sharon isn’t alone. 9News is aware of dozens of other similar incidents.
Unfortunately, cybersecurity experts said the scam is sophisticated and can be hard to protect against.
In Sharon’s case, the ATO withdrew the claim against her and she has had to change her driver’s licence.
Since the beginning of the year, 3180 Australians have been hacked, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch.
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