Taking steps to protect personal details advised

Efforts need to be made to prevent their financial and personal information being accessed by criminals.

People will be advised to ensure their bank account and credit card details - as well as other sensitive pieces of personal and financial information - do not fall into the hands of fraudsters.

Taking steps to protect one's identity on the internet is particularly crucial, Robyn Sykes highlights in an article for the Yass Tribune, pointing to the need for users to make sure their passwords are strong enough so that they cannot be compromised by hackers.

Indeed, taking such Australian banking measures could be advised as she claims that online identity theft costs the country's economy more than $1 billion each year.

Aussie credit consumers could also be interested to hear Ms Sykes point to the case of a local woman - Emma Rose - who received a call from a fraudster pretending to be from Department of Finance asking for details of her personal details in "a hoax designed to access her account".

Earlier this month, Veda Advantage revealed that one in five consumers have been targeted by identity theft criminals.

By Mark Hornby