Couple’s warning to others after thief stole their identities and committed tax fraud
An Australian couple have issued a dire warning for people to be vigilant with their mail after a thief stole their identities, committed tax fraud under their names and tried to access their superannuation.
The drama started soon after Tiffany Wong ordered a driver’s licence in the mail, it was due to be delivered to their Melbourne home in February of 2021.
With the state in lockdown at the time, it never arrived, so Tiffany and her husband, Raphael – who also are new parents – forgot about it.
Come August last year, Tiffany’s phone status suddenly began switching to SOS mode, leaving her unable to make any calls.
Her phone bill also increased a whopping $400 per week. Mrs Wong admitted it took a while ‘before we both cottoned on.’
The pair suspect a hacker stole Tiffany’s driver’s licence out of the post and used her personal information to access their phone and email accounts.
Australian couple Raphael and Tiffany Wong (pictured) have issued a dire warning for people to be vigilant with their bills after a thief stole their identities, committed tax fraud under their names and tried to access their superannuation
The Melbourne couple (pictured) found the experience confronting and felt a ‘sense of violation’ after they were targeted by professional thieve
The couple soon discovered they had ‘purchased’ a new iPhone and iPad – from email addresses they didn’t recognise.
‘Once we realised someone had updated our details, that’s when alarm bells started to ring,’ Raphael told news.com.au.
His wife added the couple kept having their security passwords changed, causing more panic.
And around the same time, Tiffany was also having trouble logging into her own email address.
Weeks later, Mr Wong was contacted regarding his superannuation fund.
The hacker had attempted to agitate an early release of his funds – but thankfully his alert accountant blocked the brazen tax fraud attempt, which could have netted as much as $42,000.
The couple said they felt anxious, and a ‘sense of violation’ following the incident.
Incredibly, the hacker also looked to swap Mrs Wong’s SIM card – which would have allowed them to then ‘control’ the phone number.
As recently as December, the thief told Optus their phone and wallet had been stolen and they required a new SIM card – while illegally assuming Mrs Wong’s identity.
Due to privacy reasons with the network and ‘cyber criminals’, the request was denied.
Mrs Wong, who has since changed her number, still has identity issues, with her passport now expired.
She is also unable to be issued a new driver’s licence from Vic Roads until police conclude their report and confirm it was stolen.
She lodged the cyber report in September, with Victoria police confirming it is ‘currently being assessed.’
The couple believe the savvy thieves uses Mrs Wong’s driver’s licence to assume her identity (stock image)
The Wong’s first became aware they had been targeted after one of their phone bills with Optus went up $400 each month