IT HAS taken more than two years for one Wagga woman to move on from a frightening ordeal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hayley, who wished to conceal her surname, became a victim of cyber crime in 2017.
Her full name, date of birth, licence number and residential address were stolen at a time in her life where she was gathering finances for her first home.
"I received a letter in the mail and it said that due to random activity they were closing my bank accounts with ANZ," she recalled.
"I thought it was weird and that I might've opened an account when I was younger that I had forgotten about.
"But, I was told that these accounts were overdrawn by $1000."
Hayley then found that her identity had been stolen and was used to open multiple accounts as well as creating several phone numbers.
"I was quite emotional ... because people are telling me that I owed all this money," she said.
"At the time I was trying to buy my house, so it was quite upsetting because I was trying to get all my ducks in a row to ensure I had the best opportunity to buy a home.
"I did credit checks and there had been multiple requests from various banks for credit cards and accounts ... but luckily those weren't granted."
Hayley said communicating with multiple fraud teams at the banks and telecommunication companies became overwhelming.
"The support out there isn't a one-stop-shop, it's different people for all different things," she said.
"Companies aren't so great dealing with fraud and they transfer you to multiple people, without recognising the anxiety behind it."
The Wagga woman said people are often required to show their identity during times of travel, at the local pub and also when hiring an item.
She said it became "frustrating" when the support people were trying to pass on the blame that she was mismanaging her personal belongings.
It was then that Hayley realised, it was time to contact the police. "Two and a half years down the track, the only thing I'm aware of currently is the bank account that was overdrawn," Hayley said.
"I'm good now, if it happens again, I know what to do now: I'll go straight to the cops.
"If it happens to you, take it steady and go to the cops and get that case reference number so you have something to link it to and document every time you speak to someone."
The saga lasted for several months and Hayley said the police understood the difficulty in sharing such personal information.
"It was over 18 months and that's a long time to keep thinking about it and working through it," she said.
