What can Australians learn from Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week
Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week happened in the US at the end of January(1) and there are some great lessons to be learned from information out of the country.
The event encourages people to act and prevent information being stolen from tax returns after the shift towards electronic filing in recent years.
Between 2011 and 2013 for example, a woman in Alabama stole US$24 million from tax returns alone(2) according to information from the IRS. The fraudulent identity industry around the world is large, and learning lessons from Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week is a great move.
Identity theft in a digital world
A report released from Ernst & Young (EY) found that Australians with digital devices spend an average of 10 hours and 24 minutes every day in front of their screens(3). As the functionality of devices improving and the accessibility to banking and other mobile applications grows, more and more sensitive information is stored or recorded on phones, tablets and computers.
EY Oceania Digital Partner Tom Kennedy believes that with the growing number of devices around, apps that make everyday tasks easier are among the most popular.
"Australians are becoming increasingly comfortable with spending on digital apps and services especially where they enhance lifestyle utility and access to content," he said.
An example of an app that improves functionality is Westpac Mobile Banking. According to the Google Play web page, the app has been downloaded between 1 million and 5 million times(4), meaning that there is a large amount of sensitive information on devices within this app alone.
Mobile devices are also places where people keep records of personal details, such as credit card numbers, personal tax numbers and passwords for all kinds of sensitive accounts.
A device that is unprotected or accesses websites that are infected with a virus are at risk of having that sort of personal information stolen. Spending upwards of 10 hours every day on a device and browsing websites that are infected can seriously increase the risk of being attacked. From information such as bank numbers and passport details, identity theft is a real possibility.
Looking out for yourself
EY Customer Leader Jenny Young believes that mobile banking is a large market for mobile apps in Australia.
"More Australians used the internet for banking and finance than for any other functional activity in 2015, with 36 per cent doing so once a week or more," she noted(3).
Further, 43 per cent of Australians downloaded illegal or pirated content in 2015, with just under half being between the ages of 18 and 34(3). The websites that these types of content are downloaded from are often targeted by hackers as a simple way to take advantage of unsuspecting users. Torrents in particular, a package of information that can be easily accessed using a free client on a computer or phone, can contain viruses put in place by the person who originally uploaded the data so that they could infiltrate a system. Torrents can contain illegal data such as pirated music or movies, but they can also be used to transfer legitimate information.
Torrents are reasonably easy to spot as dangerous, because it is rare that a user will be the first one to download anything. There are often 'comments' sections on the file page which contain basic reviews of the files and whether or not anything suspicious is contained(5). Reading the comments is a simple way to make sure a torrent file is safe to download.
Approaching data that you are unsure about with caution is key to protecting yourself against potential identity theft. If you suspect that your private data has been stolen, Identity Watch could help. Identity Watch scours underground forums in search of your provided information and informs you if your details are found so you can take action to help protect your identity.
1. ESET. Accessed February 2016.
2. IRS. Accessed February 2016.
3. EY. Accessed February 2016.
4. Google Play. Accessed February 2016.
5. Net For Beginners. Accessed February 2016.