Medibank and Optus hacks spark warning over identity theft risks from former victims

The first thing Sarah* knew about her identity being hacked was when a man turned up on her parents' doorstep asking for the sexual services he'd paid for online. Key points: In the wake of recent cyber attacks, former identity theft victims are sounding the alarm Medibank says the personal data of millions of customers was breached Licences and passport data was also exposed in the Optus hack Former identity theft victims have shared how their details were used to steal luxury vehicles, take out personal loans in their name and hock fake goods online, because criminals got hold of the kinds of information millions of Australians are believed to have had compromised in the latest Medibank and Optus hacks. When Sarah checked her credit history, she found applications for "basically every financial institution and every telecommunication company" in existence. "Initially, I spent days and days going through my credit file, calling up every banking institution that had had credit applications," she said. "That was a really lengthy process, but I knew that's what I had to do because my credit rating is important to me," Nadine said.