Fertility North Cyber Security

We recommend you remain vigilant against the risk of phishing emails and scams, which are often the most likely risk associated with any unauthorised access to personal information.

Scam calls and phishing emails are becoming increasingly sophisticated and can appear to come from legitimate phone numbers with local area codes. They will often claim to be calling from a reputable organisation, such as a government entity, bank, or telecommunications agency. They will also create a sense of urgency to try to get you to disclose sensitive information or to elicit funds from you.

We also recommend that you review and continue to monitor your consumer credit report for any discrepancies or unusual activity. Information about obtaining a credit report or credit ban is provided below.

This may be beneficial because ID documents generally provide sufficient credentials that can be used to conduct fraudulent transactions when combined with other forms of identification. As a rule of thumb, the more ID documents available, the easier it is to construct a fake profile for fraudulent purposes.

We also urge you to strongly consider whether replacement of IDs is a necessary step, as we anticipate that it will not be required by many of our patients in circumstances where scanned copies were not provided, or where the IDs have since been replaced since being provided to us.

Questions and Answers

Q: What precautionary steps can I take?
A: There are some steps you can take to help protect yourself against these scams. We recommend you consider taking the following steps:

Contact information (name, address and/or email address, and/or phone number).
Where a third party may have potentially accessed your contact information, it is important to:

• be aware of email, telephone and text-based scams. Do not share your personal information with anyone unless you are confident about who you are sharing it with;
• when on a webpage asking for your login credentials, take note of the web address or URL (‘Uniform Resource Locator’). The URL is located in the address bar of your web browser and typically starts with https://;
• if you are suspicious of the URL, do not provide your login details. Contact the entity through the usual channels to ensure you are logging into the correct web page. Please note that we will never contact you to ask for your username or password;
• enable multi-factor authentication for your online accounts where possible, including your email, banking, and social media accounts;
• ensure you have up-to-date anti-virus software installed on any device you use to access your online accounts;
• check the strength of your passwords and whether they have been involved in any data breaches on the NSW Government password checker website: https://www.nsw.gov.au/id-support-nsw/passwords; and
• follow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch guidance for protecting yourself from scams here: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/protect-yourself-from-scams/.

For more information, you can visit the OAIC’s tips for further guidance about protecting your identity: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/your-privacy-rights/tips-to-protect-your-privacy/.

Driver licence copy (current)
A copy of your driver licence may have been accessed which was likely provided to us as proof of identity. Please consider if you have previously provided this documentation to Fertility North.

Any unauthorised access to a driver licence does not affect its validity and it can still be used for its intended purpose, and as a valid form of proof of identity.

However, this ID document may provide credentials that can be used to conduct fraudulent transactions when combined with other forms of identification. As a rule of thumb, the more ID documents available, the easier it is to construct a fake profile for fraudulent purposes.

Where a driver licence has been accessed by an unauthorised third party, you may want to consider replacing your driver licence by contacting the issuing authority. While the driver licence number and expiry date will remain the same, you will be issued a new card number.

Individuals may wish to carefully consider the impact of replacing a licence as this may prevent you from using it as a form of ID, obtaining credit for legitimate purposes, or may affect your travel plans in the short term while IDs are being reissued. Please consider this advice and your own circumstances before deciding to replace your ID.

Whilst the government doesn’t always recommend replacing all identity documents, we will cover any costs associated with protecting your identity where the identity document was provided to Fertility North, and has not expired.

Driver licence copy (expired)
A copy of your expired driver licence may have been accessed. As this ID document is expired, this reduces the risk of misuse. Please consider if you have previously provided this documentation to Fertility North.

We however still recommend that you review and continue to monitor your consumer credit report for any discrepancies or unusual activity. Information about obtaining a credit report or credit ban is provided below.

Medicare card number (current)
Your Medicare card number (not a copy of your Medicare card) may have been accessed. Please consider if you have previously provided these credentials to Fertility North.

To offer further reassurance, your Medicare account can’t be accessed with just your Medicare card number alone. Unlike a scan or copy of a Medicare card, a Medicare card number by itself cannot be used as a proof of identity.

If you are concerned about the security of your Medicare account, please visit servicesaustralia.gov.au/databreach for more information on how you can protect your personal information after a data breach.

We also suggest you look at the latest copy of your consumer credit report for anything unusual. Instructions on how to get a credit report or credit ban are provided below.

Medicare card number (expired)
Your expired Medicare card number (not a copy of your Medicare card) may have been accessed. Please consider if you have previously provided these credentials to Fertility North.

To offer further reassurance, your Medicare account can’t be accessed with your expired Medicare card number. Unlike a scan or copy of a Medicare card, a Medicare card number by itself cannot be used as a proof of identity.

If you are concerned about the security of your Medicare account, please visit https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/databreach for more information on how you can protect your personal information after a data breach.

Health information
Some of your health-related information may have been accessed.

For context, cyber-criminals typically seek to misuse information that can be easily manipulated for financial gain (such as credit cards and identity documents for identity theft). For this reason, health information by itself is generally not useful to a cyber-criminal.

We know that it will be concerning to learn that your health information may have been accessed in this manner. Should you experience any anxiety or distress in relation to this, please seek medical advice from your regular treating physician or GP.

Beyond Blue is also available to provide support to individuals affected by the cyber incident. The Beyond Blue Support Service is available 24/7 for counselling. It’s free and confidential (local call costs apply).

If you wish to speak with a Beyond Blue Counsellor, they can be contacted via phone on 1300 22 4626 or you can chat to a counsellor online. You can learn more about the Beyond Blue Support Service on their website.

If you would like more information about the health information related to you that may have been involved, please contact support@fertilitynorth.com.au

Q: I think I need a credit report or ban, where can I go to get one?
A: You can apply for an annual free credit report from one of the consumer Credit Reporting Agencies below.

You can also consider contacting the below credit reporting bodies to place a temporary ban on your credit report. This means that they will not be able to share your credit report with credit providers without your consent for 21 days (unless extended).

• Illion – https://www.creditcheck.illion.com.au/

• Equifax – https://www.equifax.com.au/personal/products/equifax-credit-report

• Experian – http://www.experian.com.au/consumer-reports

Q: Who can I contact for more information about cyber security and protecting my online identity?

A:Additional general resources on identity and cyber security support can be found here:

• https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/data-breaches/data-breach-support-and-resources/
• https://www.idcare.org/
• Protect yourself | Cyber.gov.au
• Have you been hacked? | Cyber.gov.au

If you have any other questions, please contact the support team.

Q: I have more questions – who can I talk to?
A: We have a service team available to answer any questions. You can contact them on support@fertilitynorth.com.au.