Yahoo7 / aap
Almost $2 billion worth of credit applications in the past year were flagged as potential fraud risks, with identity theft fast becoming the modus operandi for fraudsters.
Credit information company Veda analysed $1.6 trillion worth of credit applications in the year to June 30 and found that $1.9 billion worth of those applications posed fraud risks.
Veda red-flags applications if any of the details, like address or driver's licence, are associated with a previous known fraud.
Red-flagged applications have increased by 52 per cent in two years and are rising as a percentage of all credit applications, the company says.
Veda's general manager of fraud and identity solutions Imelda Newton said a number of lenders were processing high-risk applications, unaware of the possible links to fraudulent activities.
Ms Newton said identity theft was the fastest growing form of credit application fraud, as fraudsters continuously change their tactics.
"What we've found is that the fraudsters have adopted using stolen identities as opposed to using fictitious identities," Ms Newton said.
"In fact, over the past year, we've seen the use of those stolen identities increase 103 per cent."
The information can be collected by fraudsters breaking into people's homes, taking mail from their letter boxes or stealing wallets and handbags, Ms Newton said.
The fraudster then assumes the victim's identity and applies for credit in their name.
Ms Newton says people can protect themselves against identity theft by putting an alert on their credit file.
Monday 29 September 2014
Monday 22 September 2014
Miss Earth Australia - A Scam!
A little investigating reveals what is really going on with this "not-for-profit" event.
Miss Earth Australia was founded over 11 years ago by Maria James. The pageant was run as a lead up event to Miss Earth International and funds raised by the Australian pageant were provided to or supported various local environmental causes including having contestants involved in tree planting and similar activities.
Until 2012 Miss Earth Australia was a registered not-for-profit, well respected event on the Australian pageants calendar.
In 2013 Roselyn Singh offered to sponsor the Australian event and from this point on things start to get really interesting.
Sponsorship has traditionally been raised to pay expenses associated with staging the event including paying a license fee to the owners of Miss Earth events worldwide, Carousel Productions Inc, venue and catering, lighting and sound, video production, suppliers, workers and various other out of pocket expenses. Monies raised through event ticket sales, volunteers, contestants and from donations was then allocated to various local environmental causes.
"Miss Earth Australia" posted the following on their "Official Facebook page for the 2014 event:
14 Sept 2014: a significant milestone of the new Miss Earth Australia pledging tribute to 'Beauty for a Cause'... standing together for life, for love..for humanity...let the good shine so no one is left behind...
The following appears on the official "Miss Earth Australia 2014" website;
The Miss Earth Australia Organisation is a designated 'not-for-profit' entity . . . . .
The current proceeds of profit of Miss Earth Australia 2014 Pageant are dedicated to 'victims of abuse and violence'.
Roselyn Singh, PhD
PRESIDENT
Now lets take a closer look at what Roselyn Singh, business partners Dr Salmans Baig and John Frisken have really been up to since their coup de gra in 2013:
And, just to give these characters (Singh, Baig and Frisken) credibility a bit more of a nudge, Roselyn Singh doesn't actually have a doctorate or any other tertiary qualification. The verifications officer in academic records for University of Sydney, where Singh claims to have obtained her MBA, BComs (Hons) and PhD has no record for a graduate named "Roselyn Singh".
In 2013 Dr Baig used another doctors identity to swindle a Melbourne Healthcare Worker out of over $50,000 and Frisken assisted Singh in producing false evidence to NSW Police to have a competitor to Singh's medical centre arrested. Police have been sued for false arrest and the case is being further investigated.
With the experience Singh has misleading and deceiving almost everybody she comes into contact with maybe she should write a thesis on "how to get away with fraud".
Makes you wonder what Miss Earth pageants around the world might really be up to these days.
Beauty for a cause . . indeed.
If you know more please contact us
Miss Earth Australia was founded over 11 years ago by Maria James. The pageant was run as a lead up event to Miss Earth International and funds raised by the Australian pageant were provided to or supported various local environmental causes including having contestants involved in tree planting and similar activities.
Until 2012 Miss Earth Australia was a registered not-for-profit, well respected event on the Australian pageants calendar.
In 2013 Roselyn Singh offered to sponsor the Australian event and from this point on things start to get really interesting.
Sponsorship has traditionally been raised to pay expenses associated with staging the event including paying a license fee to the owners of Miss Earth events worldwide, Carousel Productions Inc, venue and catering, lighting and sound, video production, suppliers, workers and various other out of pocket expenses. Monies raised through event ticket sales, volunteers, contestants and from donations was then allocated to various local environmental causes.
"Miss Earth Australia" posted the following on their "Official Facebook page for the 2014 event:
14 Sept 2014: a significant milestone of the new Miss Earth Australia pledging tribute to 'Beauty for a Cause'... standing together for life, for love..for humanity...let the good shine so no one is left behind...
The following appears on the official "Miss Earth Australia 2014" website;
The Miss Earth Australia Organisation is a designated 'not-for-profit' entity . . . . .
The current proceeds of profit of Miss Earth Australia 2014 Pageant are dedicated to 'victims of abuse and violence'.
Roselyn Singh, PhD
PRESIDENT
Now lets take a closer look at what Roselyn Singh, business partners Dr Salmans Baig and John Frisken have really been up to since their coup de gra in 2013:
- Just prior the event being staged in 2013 Roselyn Singh claimed ownership of the event, dismissed the original founder and workers who had spent hundreds of hours organising the event and then, to add further insult, refused to pay any of them the wages and expenses owed.
Infiltrating businesses to steal their IP is a particular fraud that originated overseas, was perfected by Singh and used to get the Miss Earth Australia event away from its original owners. We will publish more on this particular scam in a future post.
- Roselyn Singh and her business partner John Frisken set up a new website "missearthanz.com.au" and then stole images and plagiarised most of the content (IP) from the now sacked original owners website.
- Ms Renera Thompson, the eventual winner of the Miss Earth Australia 2013 was asked by Roselyn Singh and John Frisken to pay her own way to the Miss Earth International 2013 event held in the Philippines including airfares and accommodation and to provide receipts for reimbursement. Singh nor Frisken have ever paid the over $10,000 they owe Ms Thompson.
- Miss Earth Australia is no longer a registered not-for-profit event and no monies have been provided to any environmental causes, other causes or charities from either the 2013 or 2014 event.
- Miss Earth Australia was caught passing off on a senior Liberal Party Politician's name and photograph. Singh was told to immediately remove all references to the Politician, Liberal Party logos and any other associated IP from the Miss Earth Australia website and other websites owned or populated by Roselyn Singh.
- Miss Earth Australia was caught passing off on the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Singh was told to immediately remove all references, logos, any other IP from the Miss Earth Australia Website and other websites owned or populated by Roselyn Singh. Read more
- Miss Earth Australia was caught passing off on the Macquarie Networks two leading brands 2GB and 2CH. Singh was told to immediately remove all references, logos and associated IP from the Miss Earth Australia website and any other websites owned or populated by Roselyn Singh. Read more
- Roselyn Singh passed herself off as a lawyer named "Sam" and sent intimidating texts to a supplier. Most suppliers to the 2013 event have never been paid.
- Roselyn Singh and John Friskens' company UTSG Consortium Pty Ltd was wound up by ASIC earlier this year owing millions to creditors and victims of their many scams. Singh refused to cooperate with the liquidators and was reported to ASIC for committing an illegal phoenix. Singh moved the assets to other entities including UTSG Global Pty Ltd.
There are six different Roselyn Singh's and another Singh, using Roselyn Singh's middle name (Kamlashni) as a 1st name, registered as directors with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). You would have to assume John Frisken, Singh's business partner at Miss Earth Australia and a director of UTSG, would have to have known Roselyn Singh had created 7 different identities all acting as directors of the same company. Read More. - Roselyn Singh stripped the Miss Earth Australia 2014 event winner, Dayanna Grageda of her crown with no plausible explanation other than Dayanna supposedly didn't fill in some paperwork which, when investigated, turned out to be a crock - Read Story here.
And, just to give these characters (Singh, Baig and Frisken) credibility a bit more of a nudge, Roselyn Singh doesn't actually have a doctorate or any other tertiary qualification. The verifications officer in academic records for University of Sydney, where Singh claims to have obtained her MBA, BComs (Hons) and PhD has no record for a graduate named "Roselyn Singh".
In 2013 Dr Baig used another doctors identity to swindle a Melbourne Healthcare Worker out of over $50,000 and Frisken assisted Singh in producing false evidence to NSW Police to have a competitor to Singh's medical centre arrested. Police have been sued for false arrest and the case is being further investigated.
With the experience Singh has misleading and deceiving almost everybody she comes into contact with maybe she should write a thesis on "how to get away with fraud".
Makes you wonder what Miss Earth pageants around the world might really be up to these days.
Beauty for a cause . . indeed.
If you know more please contact us
Maintaining your defences
By Stephen Cavey, Australian Ageing Agenda
Recent legislation has put the onus on aged care providers to review their privacy management procedures and ensure the client data they keep is secure, writes Stephen Cavey.
The security of client information is a fundamental concern for health and aged care providers, and is at the heart of the relationships of trust held between consumers and service providers.
In every privacy debate in Australia for the past 30 years, concerns about the integrity and security of client data has been the number one issue. Therefore, the health and aged care sectors understand very well the importance of protecting client data. As an industry, healthcare providers and government agencies are considered leaders among security professionals given the critical nature of the data they protect.
However, the broader technology landscape has shifted dramatically and ubiquitous connectivity has given rise to a broad spectrum of online services, such as cloud computing, or the universal adoption of smartphones, which has changed the way we all do business and the way that customers interact with businesses.
These developments in computing and network infrastructure have fundamentally changed the way security issues are dealt with. This is as true for the aged and health sectors as it is for any other. New powers
Recent government legislation related to privacy in Australia is forcing health and aged care providers to conduct a detailed review of how personal information is being stored. The Australian Privacy Commissioner has been granted significant new powers to punish companies that “leak” personal information.
This is particularly important to small healthcare practices, because the issue of ‘personal information’ extends well beyond the details of ‘client information’ and even beyond a client’s ‘financial information’ such as credit card numbers and bank details.
In an age where identity theft and other fraud-related cybercrime is increasingly a problem, personal information also includes all potential identifiers – names, addresses, birth dates, driver’s licence numbers or other identity documents. Most companies whether they are in the health and aged care sector or in the broader business community are not aware of just how much exposed personal data they retain on their corporate IT systems.
If there is one trend I urge all aged care providers and chief information officers to understand, it is the concept of ‘data centric’ security. Traditionally, IT systems have been protected by creating a secure barrier around your companies’ data to keep unauthorised users out. That is the basic philosophy of perimeter security, and it refers to the firewalls and basic authentication systems that accompany them.
Read more . . . .
Recent legislation has put the onus on aged care providers to review their privacy management procedures and ensure the client data they keep is secure, writes Stephen Cavey.
The security of client information is a fundamental concern for health and aged care providers, and is at the heart of the relationships of trust held between consumers and service providers.
In every privacy debate in Australia for the past 30 years, concerns about the integrity and security of client data has been the number one issue. Therefore, the health and aged care sectors understand very well the importance of protecting client data. As an industry, healthcare providers and government agencies are considered leaders among security professionals given the critical nature of the data they protect.
However, the broader technology landscape has shifted dramatically and ubiquitous connectivity has given rise to a broad spectrum of online services, such as cloud computing, or the universal adoption of smartphones, which has changed the way we all do business and the way that customers interact with businesses.
These developments in computing and network infrastructure have fundamentally changed the way security issues are dealt with. This is as true for the aged and health sectors as it is for any other. New powers
Recent government legislation related to privacy in Australia is forcing health and aged care providers to conduct a detailed review of how personal information is being stored. The Australian Privacy Commissioner has been granted significant new powers to punish companies that “leak” personal information.
This is particularly important to small healthcare practices, because the issue of ‘personal information’ extends well beyond the details of ‘client information’ and even beyond a client’s ‘financial information’ such as credit card numbers and bank details.
In an age where identity theft and other fraud-related cybercrime is increasingly a problem, personal information also includes all potential identifiers – names, addresses, birth dates, driver’s licence numbers or other identity documents. Most companies whether they are in the health and aged care sector or in the broader business community are not aware of just how much exposed personal data they retain on their corporate IT systems.
If there is one trend I urge all aged care providers and chief information officers to understand, it is the concept of ‘data centric’ security. Traditionally, IT systems have been protected by creating a secure barrier around your companies’ data to keep unauthorised users out. That is the basic philosophy of perimeter security, and it refers to the firewalls and basic authentication systems that accompany them.
Read more . . . .
Monday 1 September 2014
Identity theft haunts the health industry
By Laura Shin - Fortune (USA)
Unlike the financial services industry, health care companies lack measures to adequately prevent identity theft, even as they continue to digitize medical records and other sensitive information.
Twelve years ago, when Nikki Burton was 17, she tried to donate blood for the first time. She was denied without explanation. Perplexed, the Portland, Ore. resident called Red Cross headquarters to inquire, only to learn that her Social Security number had been used to receive treatment at a free AIDS clinic in California, rendering her ineligible to donate blood.
Years later, she wondered if, when asked whether she had any pre-existing conditions, that instance of fraud might show up. So she called the Red Cross again. The organization told her that it no longer asked for Social Security numbers and she could donate blood without it. “I said, that’s fine for you guys to receive the donation, but that doesn’t solve the problem of that information existing in your system,” Burton says. “What if it got out?”
In 2013, the health care industry experienced more data breaches than it ever had before, accounting for 44% of all breaches, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. It was the first time that the medical industry surpassed all others, and stood in stark contrast to the financial services industry, which represented just 3.7% of the total.
Identity theft is so pervasive in health care that, according to a 2013 ID Experts data security survey of 91 healthcare organizations, 90% of respondents had experienced a data breach in the previous two years and 38% had had more than five incidents. The leading causes of a breach are typical for any business: a lost or stolen computing device, an employee error, a third-party snafu. There’s also “Robin Hood fraud,” in which someone knowingly gives a friend or family member information to fraudulently receive health care. But one cause has grown in importance: Criminal attacks have doubled in the last four years, according to the survey. (A good example: the theft of 4.5 million records this month at hospital operator Community Health Services.)
Read More . . . .
Unlike the financial services industry, health care companies lack measures to adequately prevent identity theft, even as they continue to digitize medical records and other sensitive information.
Twelve years ago, when Nikki Burton was 17, she tried to donate blood for the first time. She was denied without explanation. Perplexed, the Portland, Ore. resident called Red Cross headquarters to inquire, only to learn that her Social Security number had been used to receive treatment at a free AIDS clinic in California, rendering her ineligible to donate blood.
Years later, she wondered if, when asked whether she had any pre-existing conditions, that instance of fraud might show up. So she called the Red Cross again. The organization told her that it no longer asked for Social Security numbers and she could donate blood without it. “I said, that’s fine for you guys to receive the donation, but that doesn’t solve the problem of that information existing in your system,” Burton says. “What if it got out?”
In 2013, the health care industry experienced more data breaches than it ever had before, accounting for 44% of all breaches, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. It was the first time that the medical industry surpassed all others, and stood in stark contrast to the financial services industry, which represented just 3.7% of the total.
Identity theft is so pervasive in health care that, according to a 2013 ID Experts data security survey of 91 healthcare organizations, 90% of respondents had experienced a data breach in the previous two years and 38% had had more than five incidents. The leading causes of a breach are typical for any business: a lost or stolen computing device, an employee error, a third-party snafu. There’s also “Robin Hood fraud,” in which someone knowingly gives a friend or family member information to fraudulently receive health care. But one cause has grown in importance: Criminal attacks have doubled in the last four years, according to the survey. (A good example: the theft of 4.5 million records this month at hospital operator Community Health Services.)
Read More . . . .
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