Indian Community in Australia

Shalin Patel, 22 years old, was arrested at the Doonside home in Sydney and later was charged. He was charged with stealing more than $100,000 through taking over 70 people’s mobile phones and changing their baking log-ins.

Shalin Patel is accused of being part of an identity theft syndicate that police will alleged ported mobile phones from one carrier to another, then contacted their bank to change password. He registered for Apple Pay which he used to fraudulently purchase foods and transfer money to offshore accounts.

He was granted bail to appear in Blacktown local court on 11 April.

It Is very hard to stop this type of crime as once someone has your DOB and mobile account number (they steal posts) then they can easily transfer your number to other provider in couple of minutes.

Steps you can take:

• Don’t share your personal details with others such as DOB, passport number etc
• Do not use your real DOB (At least I don’t) on social media also review your privacy settings on social media.
• Instruct Bank and mobile provider to send electronic copy of your statement instead of hard copy
• Choose your password carefully
• Be careful when shopping online