NSW widower angry dead wife's information was stolen in Optus hack - 9News

Exclusive: A distraught Newcastle widower has questioned why Optus hung on to his deceased wife's personal information for years, leading to her details being stolen by hackers.

Edgar Mueller, aged 82, said he felt traumatised when a letter from Optus addressed to his wife Rosemarie suddenly appeared in his letterbox last month.

The letter advised various items of her personal information had been taken by criminals during Australia's largest-ever corporate cyberattack.

Hackers stole data from almost 10 million Optus customers. (Adobe Stock)

"I think it is absolutely disgusting that they kept her personal things on file, knowing full well she is dead. She is gone," Mueller told 9news.com.au.

In June 2018, Mueller called Optus to tell them his wife of 60 years had passed away and ordered them to cancel her account.

"Now four years later, my wife received a letter in her name. And it made me very sad, because it took me a while to get over this and now everything starts up again," he said.

"I believed once you cancelled an account, everything is gone, that they delete everything.

"She's dead. You wipe it. It shouldn't be there."

Under the consumer code, Optus is required to keep billing information for up to six years.

An Optus spokesperson told 9news.com.au the company was "deeply sorry" for Mueller's loss "and we apologise for any distress our contact may have caused."

Almost 10 million former and current Optus customers were victims of the data breach.

Investigations by the Information Commissioner and the Australian Communications and Media Authority will explore whether Optus securely held appropriate levels of information about their customers, past and present.

Australian Federal Police are trying to find the hackers, who can use the stolen information and identities in a variety of ways.

Personal details can be sold on the dark web, used to open bank accounts to receive welfare payments or to shield criminals from law enforcement.

Data breaches are estimated to be an annual $20-30 billion dollar underworld industry.

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Optus said 9.8 million customers had their data stolen, including 2.1 million personal ID documents.

Yesterday 9news.com.au reported how some Optus customers were being sent letters about the hack, despite not being a customer for years.

Around four million people caught up in the breach were no longer with Optus.

Mueller, who is an Optus customer, said he plans to quit the beleaguered company.

Have you been badly affected by the Optus hack? Email msaunokonoko@nine.com.au

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMikQFodHRwczovL3d3dy45bmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvbnN3LW5ld2Nhc3RsZS13aWRvd2VyLWFuZ3J5LWhpcy1kZWFkLXdpZmUtaW5mb3JtYXRpb24tc3RvbGVuLWluLW9wdHVzLWhhY2svNWEzM2JlNDMtNjE2NC00YmYyLWJiOGQtNTE2NGQxMWE3YjRj0gEA?oc=5

2022-11-02 19:33:59Z
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