Man loses $40,000 after Optus hack
A Melbourne small business owner claims to have lost $40,000 from suspected fraudulent bank transactions, after his personal data was stolen in last months’ Optus data breach.
Jim Marinis, who owns a cafe in the southern suburb of Elsternwick, doesn’t yet know how a series of cash withdrawals were made from ANZ branches in High Point and Doncaster more than two weeks ago, only that the perpetrators were able to convince the tellers they were the real Jim Marinis.
Although no link between the hack and the fake transactions has been established, Mr Marinis said he had been informed by Optus his data had been compromised following the company’s data breach in September.
He said he was advised by the telco to change his driver’s license number – which he has applied to do, but the change has still not been made.
“This isn’t about the money,” Jim, 45, told NCA Newswire on Tuesday.
“This is about identity and the power someone has when they have your identity,” he said.
“You don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring.”
From October 20 to October 25, Mr Marinis says a series of teller transactions were made at the ANZ, ranging from $2000 to $9500.
The last transaction occurred a day after Jim had told the bank to close his accounts – something that bothers the cafe owner, who has otherwise praised the bank’s response.
Although his accounts have been closed, Mr Marinis continues to be plagued by the actions of the thieves.
A number of accounts have been made with NAB, where Jim is also a customer, while accounts have also been opened on Openpay and an $18,000 loan approved by Latitude Financial.
The potential cost stemming from the fraudulent applications that have been made in his name is about $60,000, Jim said.
In the meantime, the cafe owner said his Medicare and MyGov accounts have been hacked.
But the husband and father of two said he was confident the perpetrators would be caught.
“Melbourne’s a big city, but also a small city,” Jim said.
An ANZ spokesman said they were unable to comment as the matter was before the police.
“Customers who believe they may have been a victim of fraud should contact us immediately. Our Fraud Detection Teams operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to protect our customers from fraud and scams,” the spokesman said.
NAB, Optus and Victoria Police have been contacted for comment by NCA Newswire.
Read related topics:Melbourne
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines. For all the latest Technology News Click Here
Denial of responsibility! FineRadar is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.