Ticketing giant, Ticketmaster, is alleged to be the latest victim of a cyberattack, with reporting suggesting about 560 million people could be affected globally.
Professor Lisa Given, Enabling Impact Platform Director, Social Change, Research & Innovation Capability
"Consumers are increasingly facing sophisticated scams at the hands of people trying to defraud them, such as by tricking them into transferring funds.
"However, large-scale data breaches also open consumers up to indirect threats, such as identify theft, by third parties.
"In Australia and New Zealand, there are more than five million Ticketmaster customers who may be affected by this data hack, which could include names, addresses, email accounts, or even credit card details and passwords.
"Identity theft can lead to phishing scams or impersonation of unsuspecting customers, such as using personal information to fraudulently request new credit cards.
"Data breaches like the Ticketmaster data hack put consumers' information at risk; in this particular case, the scale of the dataset - 1.3 terabytes of customer information, across multiple countries - makes this source data particularly attractive to criminal organisations.
"When hackers attempt to sell consumer information, this is an excellent reminder that we all need to be vigilant in protecting our data - even when using trusted companies' websites.
"Consumers can protect themselves by regularly changing passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication, and taking other steps to protect their personal information.
"Consumers should also be careful when responding to unsolicited emails, texts, and phone calls from individuals who may be posing as a person or company to gain their trust.
"Consumers should monitor bank accounts and credit card statements for unusual transactions and seek advice from their banks on other strategies to keep their accounts safe."
Professor Lisa Given is Professor of Information Sciences and Director of RMIT's Social Change Enabling Impact Platform. Her research examines people's use of technology tools for decision-making in business contexts and everyday life.
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