An Australian couple has issued a stark warning to people to be wary of their mail after a thief stole their identities, committed tax fraud in their names and attempted to track them down. access their super.
The film begins shortly after Tiffany Wong orders her license in the mail, which will be delivered to their home in Melbourne in February 2021.
With the door locked at the time, it never arrived, so Tiffany and her husband, Raphael – also new parents – forgot about it.
In August of last year, Tiffany’s phone suddenly went into SOS mode, leaving her unable to make any calls.
Her phone bill also increased to $400 per week. Ms Wong admits it took a while ‘before we both came to life.’
The pair suspect a hacker stole Tiffany’s driver’s license out of the post and used her personal information to gain access to their phone and email accounts.
Australian couple Raphael and Tiffany Wong (pictured) have issued a stark warning for people to be wary of their bills after a thief, stealing their identities, committed tax fraud under their name and try to access their super.
The Melbourne couple (pictured) noticed the experience of confrontation and felt a ‘sense of violation’ after they were targeted by professional thieves
The couple quickly discovered they had ‘bought’ one iPhone and iPad – from email addresses they don’t recognize.
Raphael told news.com.au: ‘Once we realized someone had updated our details, that’s when the alarms started ringing.
His wife added that the couple kept changing the security password, so they panicked.
And at the same time, Tiffany was also having trouble logging into her own email address.
Weeks later, Mr. Wong was contacted about his super fund.
Hackers tried to incite his early release of funds – but luckily, his vigilant accountant thwarted a blatant tax fraud scheme that could have raised up to $42,000.
The couple said they felt worried and ‘felt violated’ following the incident.
Incredibly, the hackers also managed to swap out Ms Wong’s SIM card – which would then allow them to ‘take control’ of the phone number.
As recently as December, thieves told Optus that their phones and wallets had been stolen and they were asking for a new SIM card – while illegally spoofing Ms. Wong’s identity.
For privacy and ‘cybercriminal’ reasons, the request was denied.
Ms Wong, who has changed her number, still has identity issues, with her passport now expired.
She also couldn’t get a new driver’s license from Vic Roads until police concluded their report and confirmed it had been stolen.
She filed a cyber report in September, with Victoria police confirming it was ‘currently being examined.’
The couple believe savvy thieves used Ms Wong’s driver’s license to take her identity (photo available)
Wong’s first learned they had been targeted after one of their phone bills with Optus increased by $400 per month
