personal information – Michmutters
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Phone company Circles. Life fined $300k by telco regulator over customer breaches

A telco company has been slapped with a $300,000 fine because it exposed nearly 2000 Australians to potential scammers.

Circles Australia Pty Limited, trading as Circles.Life, must pay a $199,800 infringement notice as well as $100,000 in compensation to fraud victims.

On Tuesday morning, the telco regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA), announced the hefty costs.

Circles.Life breached the rules for phone number transfers a whopping 1,787 times when it sold SIM cards in retail stores between August and December 2021, according to the regulator.

The phone company was found to have failed to properly check the identity of purchasers, which meant cyber criminals then “took advantage of these lapses”.

As a result, 42 consumers experienced “fraud-related issues” which included their email and bank accounts being breached.

Of those, at least seven lost money to scammers.

The costly penalty is part of the ACMA’s broader crackdown on the telco industry, after implementing sweeping changes last month to combat phone scams which are on the rise.

The phone company should have adhered to multi-factor identification rules, according to ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin.

“It is deeply concerning that Circles.Life did not have proper processes in place for such a long period and that so many people were affected or put at risk of identity theft and fraud,” she said.

“Combating these types of scams requires concerted action by all telcos and one weak link exposes all consumers to harm.

“It is the customers of other telcos who have fallen victim in this case by having their number transferred to Circles.Life without their knowledge.”

The ACMA also added that while the breaches should not have occurred, Circles.Life “responded quickly” when they realized the extent of the problem.

News.com.au has contacted Circles.Life for comment.

In a statement, the company said it had protocols in place for a one-time password verification for online port-ins, but the same rules didn’t apply for SIMs purchased at brick and mortar stores.

In April, the ACMA announced that phone companies will need stronger customer identity checks for “high-risk transactions” like SIM swaps, account changes or switching providers.

The new requirements, called the Telecommunications Service Provider (Customer Identity Authentication) Determination 2022, came into effect on June 30.

Since then, telcos must use multi-factor authentication of their customers’ identities such as confirming personal information and responding with a one-time code, similar to how banks operate. Before the changes, telcos mostly only required a customer’s name, phone number, date of birth and address to authorize a change.

The ACMA warned that noncompliance can lead to “strong action” including “pursuit of significant civil penalties” like in the case of Circles.Life and also potential Federal Court proceedings.

News.com.au has extensively reported on a particularly ominous phone scam known as a SIM swap hack in the past.

A SIM swap hack is when a cyber criminal ports – or re-routes – the victim’s mobile number onto their own phone, allowing them to intercept text messages and reset passwords to things like bank accounts.

In many cases, scammers were able to do so by impersonating the customer to their telco provider, then convincing the company to switch the SIM card over to an eSIM card.

Often the scammers will transfer the phone number to another provider to make it harder for victims to regain control of their account.

News.com.au reported on a Sydney man waking up to find $52,000 stolen from him by SIM hackers, while an Adelaide schoolteacher lost her entire life savings, $43,000, from a similar order.

Between 1 January and 30 September last year, there were at least 510 incidents of reported SIM swaps, resulting in 163 cases of financial loss, according to the ACMA.

These losses amounted to $4.68 million, with the largest single reported loss being $463,782.

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Categories
Sports

Adelaide Crows camp, Eddie Betts book, Bryce Gibbs, Josh Jenkins, reactions, response, commentary, AFLPA

Fox Footy pundits have called for those at the Adelaide Football Club responsible for the infamous 2018 pre-season camp to take accountability for the wrongdoings, saying the “cover-up is the issue” and the misuse of players’ personal information is “harrowing. ”

Shocking new details of the pre-season camp emerged this week in Eddie Betts’ recently released biography, while fellow former Crows Josh Jenkins and Bryce Gibbs also spoke out on their distressing experiences.

While Crows CEO Tim Silvers, who wasn’t at Adelaide in 2018, apologized to Betts, five-time All-Australian Nick Riewoldt believes current club bosses shouldn’t necessarily wear the brunt of the criticism given many weren’t at West Lakes at the time.

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Jenkins full statement on infamous camp | 15:39

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily about punishing the Adelaide Crows. Because a lot of the people who were at the Adelaide Crows at the time have moved on. So is it fair to punish the Crows?” I have posed.

“I think the responsible people need to put their hand up and actually show some accountability. There were people saying in the aftermath, ‘we laugh at the some of the things we hear about the noise around the camp.’ Well it clearly wasn’t a laughing matter, it was a really, really serious matter.

“Those that were responsible for the investigation and actions need to be held accountable.

“I think actually putting your hand up and being on record and explaining why and how. And why the cover up? Why has it taken four years for this to happen and reach the point that it is.”

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley agreed that concealing the details of what happened is most damning and concerned players were pressured into staying silent.

“The cover-up is the issue, because I’ve got no doubt the leadership of the Adelaide Football Club didn’t think they were going to undermine the fabric of the organisation,” he said.

“When you hear the anecdotes of the players and the way that information was used, it’s harrowing.

“It seemed to me the way the exit was planned, saying, ‘this is how you should talk about this,’ that there was an element of keeping that in the same little (group).

“Collective Minds, who were the outside facilitators, they’ve been quite litigious with this. They’ve slapped, rigged and tried to quiet this down. I’ve got no doubt it’s been very difficult for the Adelaide Football Club to be fully transparent in some ways, because of the litigious nature of the third party, and that makes it pretty tough for them.”

“Our game betrayed him” Robbo on Betts | 01:02

Triple-premiership winning Lion Jonathan Brown says it highlights the risks of bringing “outside facilitators” into a footy club.

“At the end of the day if that’s the player’s experience and that’s the way they perceived what happened, you have to take those things on face value,” the ex-Brisbane skipper said.

“It’s a great lesson, you need to get on the front foot and you need to apologize and own up to your mistakes, because people make mistakes all the time.

“I’m not sure about outside facilitators, you’ve got to be careful you bring outside facilitators into your football club. You’ve certainly got to check their CV and make sure what their reputation is and experience, because that was a bad decision for the club to bring them in.”

The AFLPA (Players Association) this week indicated it would effectively reopen its investigation into the pre-season event and contact all players for a “better understanding” of what occurred, saying it would’ve taken more immediate action had it known all the information from the outlet.

However Riewoldt questioned why the players union didn’t probe the incident more thoroughly four years ago.

“Why wasn’t it investigated properly? The people who represent the players — the Players Association — why didn’t they fight the fight properly for the players back then?” I have posed.

“Aren’t we resilient enough?” | 02:00

“They’re all questions that need answering… a lot of people have let them (the players) down. But if the Players Association don’t exist to fight for the players in situations like this to protect the players then what do they exist for?”

Former Adelaide coach and current Swans assistant Don Pyke also apologized for the 2018 pre-season camp amid growing scrutiny for his role in it.

Pyke departed the Crows at the end of 2019 and has been linked to several coaching vacancies amid praise for his impact at the Swans, admitting the idea of ​​being a senior boss again was enticing.

Asked if it hurts his future coaching aspirations, Brown said: “It does at the moment, whether it does in years down the track.”

Buckley agreed that “in some ways it does” affect Pyke’s chances in the short term, but pointed out that other coaches have previously pushed the boundaries with programs.

“You think back to legendary coaches of the past, I reckon if you got the worst things they’d done… there’s probably been some pretty average things players have been exposed to in the view of building resilience and being tougher and drawing the group together,” he said.

“Not all of them have gone right.”

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Categories
Sports

Adelaide pre-season camp, Don Pyke apologises, ex-coach’s role, Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins, Bryce Gibbs claims

Former Adelaide coach Don Pyke has apologized for the 2018 pre-season camp amid growing scrutiny of his role in it, as players continue to speak out.

On Saturday Bryce Gibbs joined Josh Jenkins and Eddie Betts as past Adelaide players opening up on their disturbing experiences.

Gibbs backed up Jenkins and Betts’ claims, including about counselors asking the players for personal information which was then used to abuse them during camp rituals.

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Jenkins revealed during the now-infamous ‘harness’ incident he asked Pyke and Crows development manager Heath Younie why it was taking place, telling them “we lost a game of footy (the 2017 Grand Final), we are all good people, this is rubbish and I think we should all leave”.

Crows higher-ups have also been criticized for their handling of the camp fall-out, with Jenkins claiming the club told players it had signed confidentiality agreements on their behalf, and that after Indigenous players’ reaction to the camp, it was suggested they as a group would be excluded from the leadership program.

The Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson wrote this weekend: “Coach Don Pyke, who was on the camp and surely aware of the distress and distrust growing within his playing group, needed to be better.

“I needed to stop it. Someone had to and he was coach.”

Buddy likely to stay in Sydney? | 00:35

Now a Swans assistant, Pyke delivered an apology while speaking to media at Melbourne Airport on Saturday.

“To Josh and Eddie and the Adelaide players and staff who were involved, I apologize for the camp. It’s saddened me to see they’re feeling that way. I acknowledge the hurt and I’m sorry,” he said.

“I’ve been in contact with both of them, haven’t had a chance to speak to them yet but have spoken to a couple of the other guys. Clearly it’s a sad time for us all. I’ll reach out to some other guys in the next couple of days.

“Clearly we’re always reflecting, there’s a couple of components there – firstly with Eddie and Josh, the fact they feel personal information they provided was used against them, that’s disappointing and unacceptable. I’m saddened by that, sorry for that.

“Clearly we entered as I’ve said before, a space to improve from a performance viewpoint. And that space had some challenges and we got it wrong, that has to be acknowledged. Whether it was our planning, whether it was our assessment, the execution or the follow-up or the debriefing following the events of the camp, clearly it was an error and I’ve apologized to the playing group before and I apologise again.

“I respect Eddie and Josh for speaking out and saying their piece about how they felt about the camp. It’s put it on the agenda and on the table for discussion. It’s important we have the discussion to try and deal with the issues that arise from that.

“If there’s still people with ongoing issues we support them and we try and actually move on from this. It’s a challenging time for all of us but one that we’ll hopefully get through.”

Pyke was also asked whether he believed his role in the camp would impact his chances of getting another senior coaching role, such as at GWS, but said that it was “for others” to discuss.

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