What can I do to protect myself?

We remind our donors to remain vigilant and alert to any fraudulent or suspicious activity, particularly any scam activity from anyone purporting to be from ChildFund Australia. If you receive any communications from ChildFund Australia that you are unsure about, you can call us directly on 1800 023 600.

Pareto Phones have partnered with IDCARE, Australia’s national identity and cyber support community service. They have expert Case Managers who can work with you in addressing concerns in relation to personal information risks and any instances where you think you information may have been misused. IDCARE’s Case Managers will work with you to design and implement a tailored individual risk assessment and response plan.

IDCARE’s services are at no cost to you. If you wish to speak with one of their expert Case Managers, please complete an online Get Help form at www.idcare.org or call 1800 595 160. Note that IDCARE specialist Case Managers are available from 9am-5pm AEST Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. When engaging IDCARE please use the referral code PAPHCH23.

You should always exercise good password practice (see here for some guidance from the Australian Cyber Security Centre: https://www.cyber.gov.au/protect-yourself).

Further general information on online safety, cyber security and helpful tips to protect yourself and respond to scams, identity theft and other online risks, can be found at

• https://www.cyber.gov.au/threats
• https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/your-privacy-rights/ways-to-protect-your-privacy
• https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/

If you would like more information about how ChildFund Australia protects the personal information of our donors and supporters; please visit: Privacy Policy – ChildFund Australia

Once aware of the unauthorised access to data, we understand Pareto Phone worked urgently to contain the threat and investigate. Pareto Phone also engaged external cyber security experts to assist with their response to the incident and is working with these experts to ensure the ongoing safety and security of its systems.

Pareto Phone prioritised data scans to identify whether payment card information (PCI) had been exposed. Pareto Phone notified ChildFund Australia on 11 August that no PCI information had been identified in ChildFund Australia files.

Pareto Phone reported the incident to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and has been cooperating with their investigations.