A man has been the victim of persistent hacking attempts by a team of criminals despite installing tight security features to his phone – the latest in a string of failures by major telecommunications companies.
The Sydney resident, who wanted to be referred to as David, has a business account with Optus that is attached to his company, bank accounts and email addresses.
He claims he was targeted twice late last year, the second of which happened despite attaching a four-digit pin code to his account that was required to be quoted to gain access to his information.
The Sydney resident, who wanted to be referred to as David, has a business account with Optus (stock pictured) that is attached to his company, bank accounts and email addresses
He claims he was targeted twice late last year, the second of which happened despite attaching a four-digit pin code to his account that was required to be quoted to gain access to his information (stock image)
‘I’m so angry. I can’t even sleep because I’m scared these people have my employees information,’ David told Daily Mail Australia.
David owns a Sydney-based IT consultancy company. The first attack on his information came on October 31, 2017.
The scammers were able to trick Optus into transferring his mobile number to a different device and subsequently hacked into his email by requesting a password change which sent a four-digit pincode to his number.
‘My phone went dead, I thought it was my signal, but it was the hackers. These guys rang up Optus, no security check or anything, gained access with limited information,’ he claimed.
David owns a Sydney-based IT consultancy company that mostly deals business-to-business. The first attack on his information came on October 31st, 2017 (Pictured receipt of hackers transferring his mobile number)
Pictured is a note on the Optus system alerting David his number was exported to a new sim
Armed with his banking information and phone number, the scammers attempted to withdraw money in $500 increments using Westpac’s ‘cardless cash’ feature – which was ultimately blocked by the bank.
It comes as another Sydney man revealed hackers drained his bank account of $91,000 following a similar mobile number scam.
The criminals posed as him on Optus’ online chat and were able to transfer his number to a different device simply by knowing his full name and birthday.
Optus told Daily Mail Australia the hackers were able to ‘pass verification procedures’ in this ‘unfortunate’ case.
The scammers were able to trick Optus (Stock image) into transferring his mobile number to a different device and subsequently hacked into his email by requesting a password change which sent a four-digit pincode to his number
Following the first attempt David added a series of extreme security measures in case the criminals made another attempt at his account.
The second attack was the one that infuriated David the most, as they were able to access his account using the live chat feature without being prompted to provide the four-digit code he set up and with only his date of birth and business address.
‘That was enough for them to get the sim card ported to another fake, bogus sim card. They hacked my phone number, hacked into my personal and work emails, took money from my bank account,’ David told Daily Mail Australia.
‘They accessed contractors and employees data. I have 25 people that work for me and all of their details have been exposed, all because Optus did the same thing twice.
‘I have so many contacts in my phone and emails, and for all I know they’ve been targeted. Even my neighbour was targeted because of me – they had a Telstra account put in her name.’
David frantically called the telco giant, and was forced to freeze all his bank accounts again and ensure his business hadn’t been compromised.
‘I went into an Optus retail shop and they didn’t have a clue,’ he alleged.
Pictured is a receipt from when Optus allowed David’s business account to be transferred over to an unknown 26-year-old woman
It was then David realised his company accounts had been transferred into the name of a 26-year-old woman he had never met, who was also the victim of identity fraud.
‘I tracked this woman down, people were using her name against me to get money out of my account,’ he said.
‘I’ve had anxiety issues the last month, its really effecting people around me.’
David has since switched providers from Optus to Telstra and has warned his friends, colleagues and neighbours about his disaster experience.
He has lost thousands of dollars worth of business and wasted endless time and energy trying to build security walls the scammers easily tore down.
‘The general public have no idea how vulnerable they are. It is crazy how easy it is for your security to be compromised,’ he added.
‘There needs to be more protection.’
Daily Mail Australia contacted Optus and they have apologised for David’s experience.
‘Optus apologises to the customer and we’re reviewing our procedures in view of their experience,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Situations where a fraudster provides an Optus customer’s personal details to gain access to their account are rare and the vast majority of our customers find their interactions with us convenient and secure.’