Debt Collectors work to collect debts on the behalf of business and government. Debt collectors include organisations that are collecting debt on behalf of organisations money is owed to after a service has been set up or organisations that have bought the debt from another organisation and will retain all money collected. Irrespective of the type of debt collector, you have protections under consumer law and privacy codes. For individuals experiencing identity theft, debt collection notices may be the first sign that an identity has been misused to obtain a line of credit.
Generally speaking, under Australian and New Zealand debt collectors cannot:
This applies to yourself, your spouse, your family, or others who may be connected to you. If a debt collector mistreats you, you can make a formal complaint the relevant authority (Aust is ACCC and NZ is Consumer Protection).
If the debt is legal and reasonable, a debt collector should only contact you when it is necessary to do so. Reasons may include:
Visits to your home will only ever happen if there is no other way the debt collector can contact you, or if you ask or agree to a home visit. If poor conduct occurs that results in assaults or threats of violence, then the collector should be reported to immediately.
Seven steps are key when you suspect a debt collection is a sign that your identity has been misused by someone to obtain credit in your name without repayment:
Identity Care Australia & New Zealand Ltd (IDCARE) provides identity and cyber security incident response services (the Services) in accordance with the following disclaimer of service:
IDCARE is Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and cyber incident community support service. We are a not-for-profit charity.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this alert, IDCARE disclaims any liability to any person in respect to any actions performed or not performed as a result of the contents of the the Services or any accompanying data provided. Wider dissemination may be permitted by authority in writing from IDCARE’s Managing Director. If you would like to provide feedback please use our Feedback Form.
SMS Scam Purporting to be Australia Post or another provider
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When a suppression is put in place it basically ‘freezes’ access to your credit file.
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A point in time snapshot of what credit related transactions you have made.
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Mon - Fri: 8am - 5pm AEST
QLD: 07 3555 5900
ACT & NSW: 02 8999 3356
VIC: 03 7018 2366
NT, SA & WA : 08 7078 7741
Mon - Fri: 10am - 7pm NZST
AKL: 09 884 4440
IDCARE has access to the Department of Social Services’ Free Interpreting Service, delivered by the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National). Access to the Free Interpreting Service is provided to assist you to communicate with non-English speaking people who hold a Medicare card. Please note that the service does not extend to New Zealand citizens or residents who do not hold an Australian Medicare card, or to tourists, overseas students or people on temporary work visas.
The National Relay Service (NRS) is a government initiative that allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing and/or have a speech impairment to make and receive phone calls.
The NRS is available 24 hours a day, every day and relays more than a million calls each year throughout Australia.
Ask our Case managers for more information on how this service will help you.
IDCARE as a registered charity does not ask individuals to donate or pay for our front line services. We are not a charity that can receive tax deductible donations.
We rely on organisations that care enough about you to care about us to keep our charitable service going. Proudly these organisations are displayed above and on our Subscriber Organisations page. If you are asked for payment you are encouraged to report this to IDCARE via our Report Phishing page.
