The nation’s trading regulator is warning investors to be extra vigilant securing their personal information after a sharp spike in the number of shares stolen through identity fraud.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) says criminals are impersonating people and gaining access to their shares using stolen credentials.
Many victims are unaware their shares have been transferred or sold until they receive a confirmation letter in the mail from a share registry.
ASIC says Aussies who have been affected by previous data breaches should be on particularly high alert, as at least some unchangeable personal information such as your date or place of birth is available online.
“Fraudulent activity using stolen identities is increasingly sophisticated, so it’s important to be vigilant and follow through with checks when you receive notifications that are unexpected or do not look right to you,” the ASIC warning reads.
ASIC is advising anyone who owns shares to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity around their bank accounts, share registry, or any share trading platforms.
They said it was important for people to it’s not just their online information that’s at risk and that fraudsters often gather personal information by stealing mail from letterboxes.
Once they have enough identifying information, scammers can open a new share trading account in your name, and a new bank account, and then sell your shares.
The money from the sale goes to an account in your name – but accessible by the criminals – where it is quickly transferred out to their accounts.
Often the first you’ll hear of it is when you receive a confirmation letter from the share registry or the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS), the computer system used by the Australian Securities Exchange to record shareholdings and transaction.
What you need to do
ASIC says you should review your share portfolios regularly, regardless of whether they are issuer-sponsored holdings registered with share registries or held in share trading accounts with stockbrokers, so it will be quicker to detect unauthorised activity.
They also suggest regularly reviewing your other investment accounts such as your super and managed any funds.
On top of regularly checking on your shares, ASIC says there are a number of steps you can take to keep your information secure, such as:
- Using full ‘pass phrases’ rather than just a password for online accounts.
- Turning on multi-factor authentication as this adds an extra layer of security that requires having physical access to your phone.
- Lock your letterbox to prevent mail theft and check it frequently.
- Making sure you’ve provided your most up to date contact details to your stockbroker, share registries and any financial services providers.
- Not ignoring any unexpected correspondence from your bank or share registry, like an update on how your shares are being held, the creation of a new account, a notification of sale of your shares or a confirmation of a change in contact details.
- Acting quickly if something doesn’t feel right. Call your stockbroker, the share registry or bank if there is any activity you didn’t authorise and change your passwords immediately.
- Contacting the business that sent you the correspondence using contact details from the organisation’s official website and not from the email or letter which may be fraudulent.
The main message is just to stay vigilant. Gaining access to an account, selling shares and distributing the sales proceeds does take time, so if you’re on top of all your info and accounts you should hopefully be able to spot any suspicious activity before it goes too far.
Do you own shares? Have you received any suspicious correspondence like this? Let us know in the comments section below.
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