Selina Stanley holds an Irish passport and having lived as a permanent resident in Australia for many years now, she went online last week to apply for citizenship.
"I went to one of the first websites that come up on the search engine, and it seemed really authentic since they make you take a citizenship eligibility test. They even fail you if you answer a question incorrectly," Ms Stanley told SBS Punjabi.
The website asked her to fill out the 1300t form - the one used by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
"I filled out all my personal details like my drivers licence, passport details, names of my parents and siblings, all my travel dates during the last six years, the four addresses I've lived in, and more."
She was charged $160 for the 'service', expecting to be given the option upload her documents. When that didn't happen and realising that the only option given under 'contact us' wasn't working, she knew she had been scammed."
"I can digest losing $160, that's no problem - but losing my personal information is very scary."
"I feel so violated. I feel as if my personal documents aren't mine anymore. I feel very exposed to identity theft and I feel very concerned about this."
Ms Stanley says she called the Department of Immigration immediately to report this fake website.
"The lady who answered said, 'yes we know', adding it was impossible for them to keep a track of all the fake websites out there. She asked me to file my citizenship application 'in the proper' way".
'I told her that I was very concerned and uncomfortable with this approach. Especially after I had seen that SBS Punjabi had reported that the exact same thing had happened to someone in 2017, on the exact same website."
Ms Stanley says, "This definitely is an issue for the Department of Immigration and the government to be concerned about. They have details of every permanent resident living in Australia, and it's obvious that if they're applying for citizenship, they've lived here for many years. Why doesn't the government inform people of such potential fraud? If I had been informed, I would've been more vigilant."
"I've been calling my bank in Dublin, ringing around, and it's been really really stressful."
"The Australian government is taking a lazy approach and I'm upset that they are withholding this information."
"Back in Ireland, I know if an organisation gets notified of such fraud, they would immediately send an email to their customer database. This simply isn't good enough for the Australian government, not to have a strategy around informing people."
The website in question though, clearly has a disclaimer that it "is not affiliated with the Australian government" and it's "purchase does not include application or filing fees that maybe charged by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship or by any other agency."
Ms Stanely said, "Whilst on the one hand I feel so stupid and can't believe I was so naive to simply follow the instructions, I also feel that the government needs to take responsibility here."
Listen to SBS Punjabi Monday to Friday at 9 pm. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
