‘I felt like I was under attack in my own home’: Nine News reporter falls victim to identity theft

Hackers gained access to the bank account, Gmail and Commsec account of a Nine News reporter in an elaborate case of identity theft.

Presenter Nathan Currie woke up to emails from Telstra saying his password had been updated, and his SIM deactivated, as well as 14 missed calls from an unknown number.

The scam, known as phone porting, allows hackers who have access to a full name and date of birth to call a service provider and report a lost phone.

They then request calls and messages be redirected to another phone.

“I woke up and felt like I was under attack from within my own home,” Nathan told Neil Mitchell.

“I lost 600 dollars from one of my accounts because once they had access to my phone they were able click that link that says ‘forgot my password’.

“I only set up a Commsec account last week … So from there they tried to sell off all the shares I just purchased.”

He said it was suspected postal fraud that gave hackers access to his date of birth.

“I had ordered a new debit card (from ING) last week and they said it should only take two to three days to arrive.

“I checked the post box again this morning and it still hasn’t come, so they think somewhere along the mail chain it has been taken or has fallen into the wrong hands.”

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