A step-by-step checklist you can work through at your own pace. It helps you find out whether your details have been caught up in a data breach, and walks you through securing your most important accounts. No jargon — and a phone number if you'd like a hand.
Go through each step and tick the boxes as you complete them — the ticks are just for your own progress and aren't saved or sent anywhere. It's a good one to do alongside a family member.
Doing these things makes you a much harder target. It can't make you completely safe — nothing can — but it removes the easy openings scammers rely on. If any step is unclear, just give us a call.
When a company you've dealt with is hacked, your details — email, password, phone number, sometimes more — can end up in the hands of scammers. These free tools tell you which companies have leaked your information so you know what to fix.
These tools don't show every Australian breach. The big ones — Optus, Medibank, Latitude and MediSecure — often won't appear. If you ever received a letter or email saying your information was exposed, treat it as exposed even if the checkers above say "good news". A clear result is reassuring, but it isn't a guarantee.
Finding your details in a breach isn't a disaster — but it's worth acting on. The danger is a leaked password being used to get into your other accounts.
If you'd like help, or think you've already lost money:
IDCARE — Australia's free identity and cyber support service. Call 1800 595 160.
Report scams to Scamwatch, and see our guide on what to do if you've been scammed.
For each account you use, four quick things make the biggest difference. Open each account's security page below and check these four:
There's no reliable way to look up which accounts exist for an email address — so the best protection is simply to lock down the accounts you do have, using the four checks above. Keeping your birthday, phone number and friends list private makes it much harder for a scammer to impersonate you or a family member.
A few habits keep all of the above working long after today.
You don't have to do any of this on your own. If a step is unclear, or you'd simply rather someone sat with you and did it together, that's exactly what we're here for — see the For Seniors page or call us.
We can walk through this checklist with you or your family member — in plain language, with no obligation. If something online is worrying you, just call.