New service to combat identity theft

Identity Watch is the first Australian cyber-monitoring service of its kind and monitors whether a person’s information – such as email addresses, credit card numbers and bank details – is being illegally traded on online forums.

The service costs $3.99 per month and alerts the person when their personal information has been compromised.

The initiative comes after 772,000 people were affected by identity theft in the past 12 months alone, with Gen Ys reporting the highest proportion of cases, at 20 per cent.

Veda’s head of cybercrime, Fiona Long, said the group’s latest research confirmed the significant threat posed by identity crime and warned that those who do not exercise caution are exposing themselves to opportunistic scammers.

“We are all at risk of having our personal details stolen, and the threat is amplified in the online world, where we can be duped by hackers without even knowing it,” she said.

“We are all doing more and sharing more online, and if we leave ourselves vulnerable, identity thieves can steal information like passwords, personal data and financial details without our knowledge.”

Veda research has shown that Australian victims of identity crime lose $4,101 on average per incident.