A single mother has copped thousands of dollars worth of traffic fines despite having neither a valid licence or a car.
Tamara Oliver, 32, claims that she has received 16 different infringement notices this year alone in relation to 14 different licence plate numbers, none of which are hers as she does not own a vehicle.
Her most recent driver’s licence expired three years ago.
Several alleged offences captured on road safety cameras show bearded men behind the wheel.
The ongoing saga has brought the Melbourne mum to breaking point, amid fears her identity has been stolen after getting caught up in the Optus mass data breach two years ago.
‘It’s just hard and (on) my mental health it is taking its toll,’ Ms Oliver told A Current Affair while fighting back tears.
‘I am not the driver. I don’t drive a vehicle, I don’t even have a licence. I have no idea what to think actually because it is unexplainable.
‘It doesn’t make any sense and it shouldn’t make any sense in anyone’s eyes. It doesn’t add up and it’s clearly fraudulent.’
The ongoing ordeal has brought single mum Tamara Oliver (pictured) tp breaking point
While most of the fines dating back to 2022, are from Victoria, three were in NSW, including Sydney, a city Tamara insists she has never been.
‘It needs to be investigated,’ she said.
Some fines were sent to Ms Oliver’s mother Sharon, who lives on the Victoria/NSW border.
‘To see my daughter, she has pulled herself together all these years, and now this has happened and it has taken it’s toll,’ Sharon told the program.
Ms Oliver was able to track down photos captured by road safety cameras of four alleged offences.
They all clearly show men behind the wheel, including two with beards.
‘Clearly, I don’t have a beard. The person in the picture is a male. Anyone with eyes can see it’s not me,’ Ms Oliver said.
A possible explanation for the mistaken fines is that Ms Oliver was among 10million Aussies whose personal identity, including her old driver’s licence, was stolen by hackers during the Optus mass data breach.
An image captured by a roadside camera of an alleged male offender for one of the fines Tamara received
Melbourne lawyer Justin Lawrence said it could be those receiving the fines have filled out a form nominating another person as the driver and used Ms Oliver’s details.
These statements only require the nominated driver’s name, address, date of birth and licence number.
Mr Lawrence said the process was open to abuse.
‘At the very least, you should have the person who is nominated actually sign the form to acknowledge they’ve been nominated,’ he said.
Mr Lawrence said Mr Oliver’s starting point is not pay the fines and instead request authorities to prove that she was the alleged offender.
‘There is a system glitch there somewhere and she’s entitled to challenge those fines,’ he said.
‘The system relies on the information that it has. If the information is inaccurate, then the system can’t work.’
Ms Oliver has made a formal complaint to Victoria Police in a desperate bid to clear her name.
Several offences captured by road cameras show men behind the wheel
‘Victoria Police will now work with Fines Victoria to investigate the circumstances around these incidents and resolve these matters,’ a statement read.
‘Members of the public who believe they have been falsely nominated for a traffic infringement should contact Fines Victoria.’
Fines Victoria says it was assisting Ms Oliver with her matter and urged motorists who believe they have incorrectly received an infringement to submit a nomination form to the agency that issued the fine and provide supporting evidence.
Optus again apologised for the 2022 mass data breach.
‘Optus deeply regrets the cyberattack occurred. Customers expect their information to remain safe and this did not happen,’ the telco told the program.
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