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A victim of identity theft says he fears for his safety after an alleged hit-and-run was committed with a car fraudulently hired under his name.
Melbourne man Ilker, who does not want to publish his surname due to privacy concerns, has been dealing with fraudulent traffic offences, public transport fines and financial crime for three years, since his licence details were stolen.
But frustration turned to fear when he returned from an overseas holiday in early June to learn his licence number was linked to a dangerous crime.
Victoria Police called him to ask whether he had recently hired a car, which he had not.
"They said, 'It turns out a hit-and-run has occurred under your name'," Ilker told Raf Epstein on ABC Radio Melbourne Mornings.
"And that's all they could tell me."
Ilker said Victoria Police did not advise him whether the investigation was closed.
"I'm actually scared at this point, because someone knows my address, who I am, where I work," Ilker said.
"I'm scared they're going to commit a crime that's so serious that I'm going to be the victim of another crime, or something more drastic is going to happen.
"I fear for my safety."
Major roadblock to a solution
This was not the first time police notified Ilker of wrongdoing linked to his licence number.
In April, police called to say a car registered with VicRoads in his name had been found dumped in the outer suburb of Dandenong.
He has also been summonsed to court over traffic offences he denies committing, and his credit rating is so damaged he is unable to get a mortgage for his first home.
Ilker said conflicting information from VicRoads and Victoria Police was a major roadblock to resolving the problem.
'Not the victim'
Ilker's licence number has been compromised since he lost his wallet on a trip out of town in 2021, which he reported to police.
The situation worsened after his personal information, including his licence details, was exposed in the 2022 Optus data breach.
Victorian licences have two numbers — the licence number, and the licence card number.
Ilker received a new licence card number from VicRoads following the Optus breach.
But this did not prevent someone from registering a car in his name with VicRoads.
Now he wants a new licence number entirely.
He said VicRoads advised he needed to provide a police case number as evidence he was a victim of fraud.
"I have never been able to get a police report from any of the police that have called me to say that a crime has occurred," he said.
"The argument is that I'm not the victim."
Seeking a solution
An email from Victoria Police seen by the ABC advised Ilker that "the victim in these matters is the organisations that are being defrauded by other parties using your ID under false pretences".
After being stonewalled for months at local police stations, Ilker had a breakthrough this week when he called the police hotline, and finally spoke to a member who directed him to the relevant paperwork.
Yesterday he submitted a Victoria Police fraud report form, which he hopes will meet the transport department's burden of proof.
Spokespeople from Victoria Police and VicRoads told the ABC they were in contact with Ilker and working to resolve the situation.
"We appreciate this has been a frustrating and drawn out experience for the victim," the police spokesperson said.
"We will now work with the victim to have the issue resolved."
Victoria is the licence fraud frontrunner
Victoria leads the nation with reports of licence fraud, according to an IDCARE report from April that showed the southern state represented close to 30 per cent of all cases.
National outreach manager for the support service, Kathy Sundstrom, said Victorian victims reported experiencing great difficulty when it came to applying for a new licence number.
"There have been more reported cases of people struggling," she said.
"[This is] either when it comes to getting police to provide what they need to change their licence number with the transport authority, or with the transport authority itself waiting for more information from police."
Ms Sundstrom said driver licences were the "golden ticket" when it came to identity theft, because criminals can do "a lot of harm" misusing them for verification with banks, government agencies and service providers.
But she said "it shouldn't be that hard" for Ilker to get a new licence number.
"His credit score has been impacted, so we should have an indication that genuine misuse has been occurring,"Ms Sundstrom said.
Banks which receive fraudulent applications can tell victims what form of identity was used by the scammer.
Victoria Police told the ABC it could verify that someone's existing licence had been used to commit fraud, and victims could apply for a Commonwealth Victim's Certificate, which is also accepted by VicRoads.
But Ms Sundstrom warned a new licence number would not be a miracle cure.
"A system is only as effective as those that use it," she said.
A hire car company, for example, can check licence numbers against verification services.
"If they aren't doing that, even if Ilker gets his actual driver licence number changed, it's still not going to have the desired result for him," Ms Sundstrom said.
Raf Epstein's Mornings show is live on ABC Radio Melbourne every weekday from 8:30-11am. Tune in on 774 AM, digital radio or the Listen app.