Commonwealth Bank's Australia-first tool to combat $1.6 billion identity fraud scourge: 'Urgent alert'

Commonwealth Bank has launched an Australia-first fraud detection tool that allows customers of any bank to stop fraudsters in their tracks. Thousands of Aussies have fallen victim to identity theft and it’s an issue costing the country upwards of $1.6 billion a year.

Launched by CBA’s tech ventures division x15ventures, the Truyu app allows Aussies to get real-time alerts when their identity documents are stolen or exposed in data breaches.

Sydney mum Alicia Reardon told Yahoo Finance she was able to stop fraudsters from using her identity after she received an app alert that someone was trying to open up an account in her name for a company she had never heard of.

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“I got a notification as an urgent alert saying that my name and date of birth had been used through Puntta Pty Ltd. This was quite late at night, I think 8:30pm or 9pm,” she said.

“I searched them up and found it was a gambling website called Picklebet. They had a live chat feature on their website so I jumped on.”

Reardon said she was told someone had registered an account in her name just a few minutes prior. They had her name and date of birth, but used a different email address, home address and banking details.

While she’s not sure the fraudsters would have ultimately done with her information, she said she was glad she was able to find out and could shut it down quickly.

"They closed the account down and contacted me the next day to find out how I found out about it so quickly," she said.

Have you fallen victim to identity fraud? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com to share your story

Identity fraud not detected ‘until it’s too late’

Truyu managing director Melanie Hayden said the app allowed customers to stop fraudsters “in the moment” and had already successfully prevented major cases of fraud.

“Identity fraud is a big problem facing Australians and a lot of the time people don't even realise that their identity has been stolen until it’s too late,” Hayden told Yahoo Finance.

“We wanted to build an identity protection tool that alerts you in the moment when your identity is being used either by you or by someone else at major merchants like banks or telcos.”

Once you receive an alert, you can confirm whether it was or wasn’t you. Then, Truyu will offer steps to help prevent further damage such as by contacting the merchant or the document issuer provider.

Truyu will also alert you if your personal information has been exposed in a data breach.

Reardon said she got alerts her information had been exposed in relation to Ticketek, Dymocks, LinkedIn and more companies, with details including her date of birth, email address, gender, name and phone number leaked.

During the pilot stage, Truyu shared that more than 6,000 people downloaded the app and more than 1,000 identification alerts were issued.

Hayden said the alerts so far had primarily been related to banking and telcos, which are the main products where identity checks are required.

Aussies urged to remain cautious

More than 199,000 Aussies were victims of identity theft in the 2022 to 2023 financial year, with most people notified about it from authorities like their bank, police or government organisation.

Identity crime is estimated to cost Australia upwards of $1.6 billion a year, with $900 million lost by individuals, according to the Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department.

Hayden said a “whole of ecosystem approach” was needed to crack down on identity theft. She recommended Aussies remain cautious about the personal information they share.

“The key place for people to start is to share as little information as possible, change your passwords as often as you can,” she said.

“We’ve all been told it before but those online behaviours around staying safe are really key.”

If you do become a victim of identity theft, Hayden recommended changing your passwords, changing your identity documents if they have been compromised, and keeping an eye on your transactions and bank accounts.

The app is now available on the App Store and Google Play. Customers can get three months free and will then be charged $4.99 per month.

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