Identity theft appears to be the new black in criminal circles. Perhaps there has never been a better time to commit identity theft. Opportunity is high, awareness is still fairly low, and prevention of this crime unfortunately seems to be reactionary-based as fraudsters think up bigger and better ways of gaining access to people’s good names.

Recently the West Australian Government announced details of a property scam which has presented itself in Western Australia.

Police are investigating a scam in which properties are sold by fraudsters without the knowledge of the overseas-based owners. Last year, Wembley Downs retiree Roger Mildenhall had his Karrinyup investment property sold without knowing anything about it. But more recently, it is alleged that Nigerian-based scammers sold a Ballajura property without the owners’ knowledge.

“A couple returning from overseas have advised authorities that their property has been sold without their knowledge or consent and a joint investigation has been launched.

The previous owners were living and working overseas at the time and didn’t discover the property had been sold until they recently returned to Perth to inspect the property.

The real estate agent involved has told investigators that he received a phone call from a man claiming to be the owner in February this year inquiring about the property. Shortly after, the agent received an urgent request to sell the property as funds were needed for a business investment, later revealed to be a supposed petro-chemical project,” Landgate announced in a statement earlier this month.

The West Australian Newspaper last week reported the WA Government has upgraded its security measures for overseas-based property owners.

“WA property owners living abroad who are concerned about identity theft can now lodge a caveat over their property to reduce the risk of being targeted by scammers, under a raft of anti-fraud measures introduced by Landgate.

Lands Minister Brendon Grylls said yesterday Landgate would expand its TitleWatch service so homeowners can receive email alerts notifying them of any activity on the title deeds of their nominated property. Overseas-based property owners can pay $160 to lodge a new caveat on their property to prevent registration of a change of ownership, mortgage or lease.

They could remove the caveat only by attending Landgate’s Midland office in person and completing a 100-point identity check, Mr Grylls said…
Under the range of increased security measures, all transfers of land executed overseas will now require a 100-point identity check, signatures to be witnessed by an Australian Consular officer and the sales will need to be independently checked by at least two senior Landgate officers.

“It is important that we continue to move to ensure that a person’s No. 1 asset is protected,” Mr Grylls said.

Property owners and Real Estate agents in every state need to be aware that overseas-based property scams are occurring, and to arm themselves with preventative measures to protect against identity fraud.

The other property scam to watch out for is the fake rental property scam. The ACCC’s SCAMwatch website warns individuals about responding to property advertisements, as there have been reported incidents of scams in the community.

“SCAMwatch is warning prospective tenants to be wary when responding to rental properties advertised on the net where the ‘owner’ makes various excuses as to why you can’t inspect the property but insists on an upfront payment for rent or deposit.

Scammers will often use various shared accommodation sites to post these fake listings. They will go to great lengths to ensure that the offer looks genuine by including photos and real addresses of properties. However, photos and details of properties can be easily obtained on the internet.

Once hooked, the scammer will request money, often via money transfer, or personal details upfront to ‘secure’ the rental property. SCAMwatch warns consumers not to send money or provide personal details to people you don’t know and trust.”

Long term affect for victims

Fraudsters now see personal information as a valuable commodity. Many are able to use that information to take out credit in the victim’s name. Often the victim is not alerted to the misuse of their credit file for some time, often not until they attempt to obtain credit themselves. By then, victims may have credit applications as a minimum and possibly defaults, mortgages and mobile phones attributed to them incorrectly.

Once any account remains unpaid past 60 days, the debt may be listed by the creditor as a default on a person’s credit file. Under current Australian legislation, defaults remain listed on the victim’s credit file for a 5 year period.

If a victim has defaults on their credit file following identity theft – the defaults still remain there for 5 years. The onus is then on the identity theft victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the debts in their name. If they are unable to prove this, they are virtually blacklisted from obtaining further credit themselves for 5 years.

It is important for everyone to think twice about who they allow to have access to their personal information, and to verify all transactions are legitimate before handing over their details or any money. SCAMwatch has these suggestions:

How to protect yourself

* Insist on inspecting the property- a drive-by is not enough. With these types of scams, the property may genuinely exist, but it is owned by someone else.
* If it is overseas, ask someone you can trust to make inquiries. If there is a real estate agent or similar in the area they may be able to assist.
* Do not rely on any information provided to you from anyone recommended by the person advertising the property.
* An internet search on the name of the person offering the property and their email address may provide useful information.
* Where possible, avoid paying via money transfer. It is rare to recover money sent this way.
* There are many share accommodation websites, consider choosing the ones with clear warnings about scams or which offer added protection.
If you are satisfied that the offer is legitimate and decide to accept it, keep copies of all correspondence, banking details and the listing itself.

For more information on identity theft prevention, or help with credit repair following identity theft, contact MyCRA Credit Repairs.

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