Speaker 1: Hello, my name's Santasha Nabananga Bamblet. I'm a proud yr
Speaker 1: the Order Kerney Whoalbury and a waddery woman. And before
Speaker 1: we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I
Speaker 1: would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
Speaker 1: of which this podcast is recorded on a wondery country,
Speaker 1: acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming
Speaker 1: through as this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing
Speaker 1: and the storytelling of you to make a difference for
Speaker 1: today and lasting impact for tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
Speaker 3: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
Speaker 2: for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to another
Speaker 2: one of our shop backed money diaries where we get
Speaker 2: to talk to one of our incredibly amazing She's on
Speaker 2: the Money community members. Let's jump straight in. We got
Speaker 2: a message this week and it read like this. In
Speaker 2: first year UNI, I had my identity stolen. They waited
Speaker 2: a year before using my identity to commit other crimes.
Speaker 2: I had no idea anything was amiss until the police
Speaker 2: emailed my father saying I was a suspect. This resulted
Speaker 2: in me being arrested, fingerprinted, and formally interviewed by police.
Speaker 2: Even after I was off the hook with the police,
Speaker 2: it took a long time of clearing my name and
Speaker 2: cleaning up my credit history. Now, as a twenty three
Speaker 2: year old PhD student looking at maternal and child health
Speaker 2: in puba New Guinea, I get by on my PhD
Speaker 2: stipid end, working all sorts of odd jobs to build
Speaker 2: my savings emergency fund and I hope to save for
Speaker 2: a house. Oh my gosh, money diary in that is
Speaker 2: a wild ride, and you are only twenty three. Welcome
Speaker 2: to the show.
Speaker 4: Thank you, thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, your I don't even want to get
Speaker 2: into it too quickly because I'll just spoil all of
Speaker 2: the questions that we've got. But that sounds absolutely crazy,
Speaker 2: And I'm assuming you're okay now, right.
Speaker 4: Yes, I still check my credit or for all the time.
Speaker 4: Just makes all things are good.
Speaker 2: I would too, Like I would just download it on
Speaker 2: a weekly basis and just be like just checking, just checking.
Speaker 2: It's me high echoifax in me again, bye, Like they
Speaker 2: would know me by name. All right, let's get into it.
Speaker 2: The first question I always like to ask is can
Speaker 2: you tell us a little bit more about your money story.
Speaker 5: Yes, so, I guess like I'm pretty fortunate to come
Speaker 5: from a relatively well off family, not like crazy rich
Speaker 5: or anything, but we definitely never went with that.
Speaker 4: You know, like private schools, all.
Speaker 5: The extra curriculus that we could want to do that
Speaker 5: Mum allowed with time, work and everything, and like the
Speaker 5: odd overseas troop here and there, that sort of thing.
Speaker 4: But money wasn't really ever us something that we talked about, at.
Speaker 5: Least not while we're still young and growing up. I
Speaker 5: remember asking Dad what he earned once when I was
Speaker 5: in like breath and he just like looked at me.
Speaker 4: It was like enough and that was it? Right?
Speaker 2: They were like no, did Dad?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: Did? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Okay, cool, thanks and then yeah.
Speaker 5: As I grew up, had like a pretty positive relationship
Speaker 5: with money, never really thought about it aside from like,
Speaker 5: you know, have money, spend money, get things. But that
Speaker 5: all sort of changed in my younger Sistar Wars diagnosed
Speaker 5: with anorexia. My parents like mostly tried to keep me
Speaker 5: out of it as much as they could, but there
Speaker 5: are always loads of appointments to pay for, like nutrition,
Speaker 5: as pediatrician, dietrician, psychologists like.
Speaker 4: You know, whatever you can think of, you name it.
Speaker 4: It was hard to be paid for.
Speaker 5: And as you know, as much as my parents wanted
Speaker 5: to keep me out of it, there's always comments like
Speaker 5: oh my gosh, like this is so expensive that sort
Speaker 5: of thing, not that you know, like we went without
Speaker 5: or anything. I guess it just like was a bit
Speaker 5: of a financial strain for them, and that sort of
Speaker 5: flowed down. I just sort of retained that past that point.
Speaker 5: I was about in year nine when that, or my
Speaker 5: sister I was only in year six, which is something
Speaker 5: like twelve, which was very young.
Speaker 4: But yeah, after that.
Speaker 5: I just really didn't want to be a burden or
Speaker 5: my family financially or otherwise. And I guess that's like
Speaker 5: led me to be like super independent and I really
Speaker 5: value living out of home and paying for things on
Speaker 5: my own, having everything, and it's being like mine that
Speaker 5: I've paid for and that I don't owe anyone anything.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I really like that. It's taken a while
Speaker 5: to get to the point where I sort of feel
Speaker 5: more open to help.
Speaker 4: From my parents.
Speaker 5: I guess when I needed or want it, I like
Speaker 5: later on I needed my own psychologist to help me
Speaker 5: sort of work through everything that happened with my sister.
Speaker 5: And I refused to talk to my parents about it.
Speaker 5: I didn't want them knowing that I was going to
Speaker 5: seek a psychologist. I thought would just be like a
Speaker 5: bit much after everything that had happened with my sister.
Speaker 5: But like, after a couple of sessions and my Joyen's
Speaker 5: always been like very supportive about all of this stuff.
Speaker 5: He was encouraging me to talk to my parents about
Speaker 5: it and talk to my mum, and she offered to
Speaker 5: help pay for it, which was really nice because at
Speaker 5: the time I was not making very much money at all,
Speaker 5: and having to pay for psychologists and things out of
Speaker 5: my own pocket was really putting a dent in the savings.
Speaker 5: But I guess like now I'm in a much better
Speaker 5: spot where I'm more open and like happy to accept
Speaker 5: help where I need it and if I want it.
Speaker 5: That's like I really still prefer to do things on
Speaker 5: my own where I can.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow. And then growing up a little bit more,
Speaker 2: you ended up having your identity stolen? How did that
Speaker 2: impact you financially?
Speaker 5: Fortunately it didn't impact me financially, Like none of my
Speaker 5: own money was taken or anything. So it was all
Speaker 5: just like credit in my name, which all got removed.
Speaker 5: And because I was so young, I wasn't like applying
Speaker 5: for credit cards or mortgages or anything, so like otherwise
Speaker 5: I literally wouldn't have known for years if the plan
Speaker 5: sat at home email Dad to ask and step the
Speaker 5: whole thing rolling.
Speaker 4: I guess.
Speaker 2: So the police just literally emailed you died and we're like, hey, yeah,
Speaker 2: just FYI, we think your daughter's a criminal XO.
Speaker 4: Like yes, it was so random.
Speaker 5: The guy the constable that email Dad, he had like
Speaker 5: a very unique name that I have never heard before
Speaker 5: and have never heard ever again. So we were like, oh,
Speaker 5: like is this some sort of like Nigerian prince kind
Speaker 5: of scam?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, scam scam. You just need to transfer X
Speaker 2: amount of money and I'll return you a million.
Speaker 5: And then Dad's like texted me. I was at Uni
Speaker 5: at the time, and Dad's like, what has he done?
Speaker 4: I was like anything, I swear, I swear.
Speaker 2: So you got arrested for it and ended did you
Speaker 2: ended up in jangle for this and you didn't do anything?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean it's a whole long process, but basically
Speaker 5: at least what they said, was in order to interview me,
Speaker 5: which they had to do to rule me out as
Speaker 5: a suspect.
Speaker 4: Like part of the procedure is like.
Speaker 5: Arresting, so they didn't put like handcuffs on me or anything,
Speaker 5: but I had to get the police station in the
Speaker 5: middle of the night because the guy was working night shifts.
Speaker 4: And then they were like, you're under arrest.
Speaker 5: Anything you can do you know, oh, that's steel, and
Speaker 5: then took me into the interview room.
Speaker 2: This is arguably hilarious because obviously this is anonymous, but
Speaker 2: like I can tell you right now, our money diarist
Speaker 2: does not look like the type of person that would
Speaker 2: do very well in the jail. Sorry, money Diarists love you,
Speaker 2: We'll come back to this. Not my thing, no, no,
Speaker 2: no no. I just think you look too sweet, and
Speaker 2: you look like you're probably like the same height as me,
Speaker 2: which is standing really taller, like maybe five five one.
Speaker 2: Like you are just very patigued. There's no chance that
Speaker 2: you in jail is ever going to be a good idea.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna ask you more questions though, because I want
Speaker 2: to come back to this process after the break. But
Speaker 2: I want to know, now, what do you do for work?
Speaker 2: And how much money do you earn?
Speaker 4: So, yes, my I literally just started my PhD like
Speaker 4: two weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Congrat that's so exciting.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you. I'm super excited about it.
Speaker 5: But yeah, so that's my primary source of income, I guess, yeah,
Speaker 5: so PhD student. I'm pretty lucky to have that stipend
Speaker 5: as well as the fees offset, so I don't pay
Speaker 5: any fees or get any x or anything, and I
Speaker 5: get the stipend, which is thirty K a year index tax.
Speaker 4: Free as living allowance, which.
Speaker 5: Like luckily covers all my basics like rent and you know,
Speaker 5: bills and all that sort of thing.
Speaker 4: But yeah, it.
Speaker 5: Doesn't leave much for most, say things after that, so
Speaker 5: I work outside of.
Speaker 4: This as well.
Speaker 5: I do nanny and babysitting and coaching where I can
Speaker 5: fit it in. Yeah, so like nanning, I well, it
Speaker 5: depends on the week, but usually have a couple of
Speaker 5: afternoons a week and be earning as of next year
Speaker 5: three hundred and sixty dollars a week. But at the moment,
Speaker 5: because I'm still tying up a few things that I
Speaker 5: was doing earlier in the year, it's more like six
Speaker 5: hundred or so. And then coaching is like pretty variable.
Speaker 5: It changes a lot. Yeah, Diving coaching very variable and
Speaker 5: only during the school term. Sometimes I do athletics coaching
Speaker 5: as well, depends, but that can range anywhere from three
Speaker 5: hundred to six hundred dollars a fortnight. And then I
Speaker 5: just do like casual babysitting if it pops up and
Speaker 5: I'm free.
Speaker 4: So that's between all of that.
Speaker 5: My approximate annual income is probably around fifty nine K.
Speaker 2: That's not too bad for a PhD student at this point,
Speaker 2: but do you think that that is going to be
Speaker 2: maintainable given you've just started your PhD. I feel like
Speaker 2: every friend that has ever done a PhD kind of
Speaker 2: ends up pulling out their hair, So do you think
Speaker 2: that that's reality.
Speaker 5: I'm hoping you'll stay like at least around fifty K
Speaker 5: a year, but I guess, like you know, I'm still
Speaker 5: waiting to see how to go at the moment because
Speaker 5: I've just started. It's mainly just like admin and getting
Speaker 5: everything set up, so there hasn't been too much on
Speaker 5: my plate right now. And two of my families that
Speaker 5: I have for nanny I'll give up next year, which
Speaker 5: is why it'll go down to three hundred and sixty
Speaker 5: dollars a week because that's just like three afternoons for.
Speaker 4: A couple of hours. Yeah wow, yeah, so I guess
Speaker 4: we'll see.
Speaker 5: But fortunately, stuff like coaching that's usually in the morning
Speaker 5: or after school and it's usually only for like an
Speaker 5: hour tops, but you get paid for two hours every
Speaker 5: time you go in anyway, so that like that sort
Speaker 5: of helps because you don't have to work as much
Speaker 5: and you still get paid.
Speaker 2: That's a bit of a money win, but also really niche,
Speaker 2: Like it's not something where I go, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: you're at UNI. You could absolutely pick up another barista shift,
Speaker 2: like you're like, hey, I am actually a diving coach. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's quite niche. Is that because you grew up diving? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well I started off swimming. I guess like everyone's parents.
Speaker 5: Chucked them in swimming lessons and the swimming pool that
Speaker 5: I was learning to swim, I had a diving book
Speaker 5: next certain least to beg mom every session.
Speaker 4: Mom, Mom, I want to do that. Please please let
Speaker 4: me do that. And Mom's like really risk averse and
Speaker 4: she's like, no way, you can do yeah, not until
Speaker 4: you're at least squad level. Swimming. I was like, oh, like, okay,
Speaker 4: so I worked really hard to get out to that
Speaker 4: point in swimming.
Speaker 5: They finally got to do diving us thrilled.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, and now you're literally a coach. That
Speaker 2: is so cool as somebody who also did squad swimming.
Speaker 2: And you know what, I really didn't appreciate my parents
Speaker 2: when I was in high school. Those like literal four
Speaker 2: thirty am starts are not for the faint hearted, and
Speaker 2: I used to hate it. Oh one out of ten
Speaker 2: cannot recommend, but I'm impressed that you've stayed committed.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're diving.
Speaker 5: Fortunately used to be like more late night sessions, so
Speaker 5: I v six to eight pm instead of the early
Speaker 5: ones because the swimmers would have to fall in the morning.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's fair, that's very fair, smart from you, But
Speaker 2: there's no chance you would get me to jump off
Speaker 2: that thing on a consistent basis. Not how many all right,
Speaker 2: money in forest? I want to know what is currently
Speaker 2: your big money goal. What are we working towards?
Speaker 5: Slowly but surely I'm working towards saving out for a
Speaker 5: house deposit, so obviously I've still got to you know,
Speaker 5: see how everything goes with the PhD. But assuming that
Speaker 5: I can do like a couple of afternoons a week
Speaker 5: of nanny like you know, I think that's maybe ten
Speaker 5: hours across the whole week, and like a coaching here
Speaker 5: and there. I should be able to save up and
Speaker 5: up by the time that I've finished my PhD and
Speaker 5: done like a full year of work, so I'll be
Speaker 5: off probation after that period.
Speaker 4: So that's what my goal is.
Speaker 5: I suppose I'm aiming for like eighty to one hundred
Speaker 5: as a deposit.
Speaker 4: We'll see.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that's so clear. How did you come
Speaker 2: to the conclusion that eighty tw one hundred thousand dollars
Speaker 2: was the deposit you wanted.
Speaker 4: I guess I'm just really interested in real estate.
Speaker 5: Like I love going on real estate dot com and
Speaker 5: going through the domain on the weekends and having a
Speaker 5: look at everything. And like with the first home buyer,
Speaker 5: I don't know, the one where you don't.
Speaker 4: Have to pay stamp. Dude, I forget which ones they're
Speaker 4: all called.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, one of the schemes.
Speaker 5: Yeah, with one of the schemes, like you can get
Speaker 5: a house in quotations, because six hundred and fifty K
Speaker 5: does not far your house in most capital cities around Australia.
Speaker 5: But that's sort of what I was looking at, like
Speaker 5: a two bedroom apartment in Capital City and then i'd
Speaker 5: probably need around eighty to one hundred if not more
Speaker 5: than that. Yeah, we'll just see how it goes, but
Speaker 5: that's sort of what I'm working towards.
Speaker 2: Wow, I love this. I'm so excited to see you
Speaker 2: do that. Next question I have for you is you're young,
Speaker 2: you're doing your PhD. But do you have any investments? Yes?
Speaker 3: I do.
Speaker 2: Actually, of course she does. She's too planned. I love this.
Speaker 5: So through my online broker, which is Steak. But I've
Speaker 5: got twenty five thousand invested in there.
Speaker 2: Wait twenty five thousand at twenty three are you kidding me?
Speaker 4: There's been a bit of help.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to lie, so okay, but like that's
Speaker 2: a lot.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I try and can spit like five grand a year,
Speaker 5: but I have to tence.
Speaker 2: That's really good.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm really excited about it. I like seeing how
Speaker 5: it all goes up and down and everything. Yeah, and
Speaker 5: I've got some money invested in raised not heat's like
Speaker 5: four hundred and twenty five dollars. I think they've got
Speaker 5: a notification today and I just like put five dollars
Speaker 5: a week in their Emerald portfolio. I think so, just again,
Speaker 5: I like to see how the markets work, I suppose,
Speaker 5: and it's a lower risk, well not a lower risk,
Speaker 5: but like a smaller amount of money to play within.
Speaker 2: There. Love good work, all right. Next question I have
Speaker 2: for you is do you have any debts? If so,
Speaker 2: what are they?
Speaker 4: Just my HEX step at the moment.
Speaker 5: So I checked today, that's about forty three K so
Speaker 5: my undergrad with my honest degree, which is like, oh fine,
Speaker 5: you know I won't get anything more from my PhD,
Speaker 5: which is really great, and I don't think I've started
Speaker 5: paying the hex back yet.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. That's so exciting though. And I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people don't know this, but if you
Speaker 2: go to do postgraduates, they can be really really expensive.
Speaker 2: Like when I was looking at doing my MBA, which
Speaker 2: is a Master's of Business Administration, it can sit anywhere
Speaker 2: between seventy and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to
Speaker 2: do that degree. However, if you went and did a PhD,
Speaker 2: that's usually supported and you literally get paid to do it.
Speaker 2: So not only are you going to get to call
Speaker 2: yourself doctor money direst. You're like way smarter than us
Speaker 2: when it comes to financials because I'm still sitting on
Speaker 2: six figures of hexteat and I just don't want to
Speaker 2: talk about it.
Speaker 5: I was tossing up between Masters of public health versus
Speaker 5: doing a PhD in public health stuff, and that was.
Speaker 4: One of the factors.
Speaker 5: I was like, well, get like a higher qualification in quotations,
Speaker 5: but I won't have to pay for it, so might
Speaker 5: do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, money, money win, I love it all right. Next
Speaker 2: question I've got for you does relate to a money
Speaker 2: win as well, and it is do you use shopback?
Speaker 4: Yes? I do?
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, what do you buy?
Speaker 5: Honestly, mostly it's a gift for other people that I
Speaker 5: do line shopping for, so like you know, birthdays, Christmas,
Speaker 5: et cetera. I love the Iconic in particular, I love
Speaker 5: when they have their upsized cash backs. But yeah, I
Speaker 5: usually just anything that I'm buying online, I check to
Speaker 5: see if I can use shot back. If it's not urgent,
Speaker 5: I try and wait and see if I can wait
Speaker 5: until there is an upsize, and then at the same time,
Speaker 5: like if there's something I frequently use, so like I
Speaker 5: do swimming and diving and stuff, I.
Speaker 4: Get dechlorination shampoo. So like OZ Hair.
Speaker 5: And Beauty is one of the places on shot back,
Speaker 5: and they like frequently have upsides, so I usually wait
Speaker 5: for them to have it like a seventeen percent cash
Speaker 5: back and then I'll stock up smart.
Speaker 2: That's a lot back. And I know, having done a
Speaker 2: bit of swimming in my time, I know it doesn't
Speaker 2: look like it, guys, but having done a little bit
Speaker 2: of swimming all my time, that de chlorination shampoos really
Speaker 2: expensive and it doesn't even feel as nice as it could.
Speaker 4: I know. It's like fifty dollars for two bottles kills me.
Speaker 2: And it doesn't even smell that nice. What the heck?
Speaker 4: No, I usually use that and then a different one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, smart, Smart, All right, Next question I've got, I
Speaker 2: want to know what is your best money habit?
Speaker 4: Probably budgeting.
Speaker 5: I love setting up my spreadsheets and like having all
Speaker 5: my different incomes from different areas and breaking all the
Speaker 5: numbers down.
Speaker 4: And I have one friend who's let me do it
Speaker 4: for her as well, so that was fun too.
Speaker 2: Oh I love that. So you're you're me, You're like
Speaker 2: can I do your budget.
Speaker 5: Yeah, a less qualified like, don't hate me for this budget.
Speaker 2: No, no, it doesn't matter, Like budgeting is fun. Let
Speaker 2: me at it with a spreadsheet. How fun. How did
Speaker 2: that conversation come up?
Speaker 5: Well, she actually listens to she's on the money as well,
Speaker 5: so sometimes we talk about it and I lent her
Speaker 5: my books, like of your books, I guess, and yeah,
Speaker 5: we're talking about it, and I was talking about like
Speaker 5: doing my budget because she's my boyfriend's sister. They're twins,
Speaker 5: so we're all sort of friends together. So I was
Speaker 5: doing his budget and then I was like, oh, like,
Speaker 5: if you want me to do yours?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, so I've done them all.
Speaker 2: That is literally my favorite thing I've heard a week.
Speaker 2: That is the best. All right. I want to know next, though,
Speaker 2: what is your worst money habit.
Speaker 5: I'm really good at saving up for things right off
Speaker 5: until I have to pay for something expensive.
Speaker 4: So like last week, I had to get three new
Speaker 4: tires on my car, which is like a nightmare.
Speaker 5: I broke down in the middle of the Westgate Freeway
Speaker 5: at five point thirty on the way to the airport.
Speaker 4: It was like a disaster. I thought I was going
Speaker 4: to die.
Speaker 2: And then you can't get out of the car, and
Speaker 2: you've got to stay in the car, and you're like
Speaker 2: getting stressed. No, no, that sounds terrible. I'm getting secondary
Speaker 2: anxiety for you.
Speaker 4: It was up there with.
Speaker 5: The worst experiences of my life. But after that, like
Speaker 5: you know, that tie obviously needed to be replaced, and
Speaker 5: then the other ties were old too, so we just got.
Speaker 2: All of them.
Speaker 5: And then I'm like, oh, I've spent this much money,
Speaker 5: it may as well.
Speaker 2: May as well bleed some more cash.
Speaker 4: Exactly what's it going to do now? Like on, No,
Speaker 4: that's probably my worst money.
Speaker 2: That's not the worst money habit. But I do think
Speaker 2: you deserved that in that moment. I feel like after
Speaker 2: that traumatic experience, you definitely deserve to pick me up. Look,
Speaker 2: I feel like it would take years off mine as well.
Speaker 2: All right, next question before we go to a quick break,
Speaker 2: I want to know what grade would you give your
Speaker 2: money habits if we forced you to give yourself a grade?
Speaker 4: I reckon like a low A, but a better A.
Speaker 5: If I couldn't get on top of spending all my
Speaker 5: money as soon as I have to buy.
Speaker 2: Something, yeah, fair, And then what is there anything else
Speaker 2: you'd have to change? To get to an A plus.
Speaker 5: I'd like to in best more, I guess, but I'm
Speaker 5: focusing on saving my money from my house deposit eventually,
Speaker 5: so I guess, like that's more what I'm focusing on,
Speaker 5: and trying to stick to the budgets that I make
Speaker 5: because I know they work. I've crunched the numbers, but
Speaker 5: sometimes I'm like, well, or maybe I need a bit more.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, all right, I want to get into
Speaker 2: the nitty gritty of how you literally got arrested when
Speaker 2: your identity got stolen. So guys, don't go anywhere. We'll
Speaker 2: be back after this really quick break. All right, money diarist,
Speaker 2: we are back. You got arrested for things you didn't do.
Speaker 2: You got your identity stolen, and it literally took a
Speaker 2: year before anything actually happened. And for the person who
Speaker 2: stole your identity to commit any crimes. I need to know,
Speaker 2: how did it happen, How did they steal your identity?
Speaker 2: How can I stop this happening to me?
Speaker 4: Well, at the.
Speaker 5: Time, I was like first year UNI obviously, you know,
Speaker 5: like going out with friends and like just doing random
Speaker 5: things all the time, I guess, and not really keeping
Speaker 5: enough attention to where my wallet was. And so over
Speaker 5: the course of first year UNI, I lost my walt
Speaker 5: three times, so I really had it coming.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, you was setting yourself up for.
Speaker 4: This, yeah, m hmm. Absolutely.
Speaker 5: But the time that I think was when they stole
Speaker 5: my identity. We were literally just sitting at dinner and
Speaker 5: I had my of wallet on the table, I think, and.
Speaker 2: This is in Melbourne, right, this isn't somewhere Yeah, in Melbourne,
Speaker 2: completely like random.
Speaker 4: In Ligon Street, Oh gosh.
Speaker 5: Yeah, So sitting out on Lagan Street and I was like,
Speaker 5: are with a couple of friends after UNI, just grabbing
Speaker 5: like a bite to eat. And I didn't know this
Speaker 5: at all, but I think someone rubbed my wallet because
Speaker 5: then I like went to go meet my family for
Speaker 5: dinner because family friends were over from the States and
Speaker 5: they were going out to dinner somewhere close by. So
Speaker 5: I went to go and meet them, and when I
Speaker 5: got there, I realized that I didn't have my wallet.
Speaker 4: I was like, what on earth? I'm sure I had
Speaker 4: it with me, like it was on the table.
Speaker 5: I would have brought it with me, and I thought
Speaker 5: maybe I'd left it on the trainer and an I
Speaker 5: brought something and I was calling everyone.
Speaker 4: I was like, I don't know where it is, and
Speaker 4: it just like never turned up.
Speaker 5: But obviously at this point, I've done this twice that
Speaker 5: year already, so I was like, oh, whatever, cancel the cards,
Speaker 5: order the new ones, so and so on. Life goes
Speaker 5: on sort of thing.
Speaker 2: She has a process, she'd done this, she's been here for.
Speaker 4: This, practiced. Yeah.
Speaker 5: So then nothing happened until halfway through second year. So
Speaker 5: this is halfway through twenty nineteen, towards the end of
Speaker 5: first semester, and then my dad got an email from
Speaker 5: the policeman the constable.
Speaker 2: Which still shocks me that they're just chill. That's ridiculous, Like,
Speaker 2: no call, they didn't even try and call you, They
Speaker 2: just email you, Dad, And like, by the way, no,
Speaker 2: I was shocked your daughter as a criminal kiss kiss.
Speaker 4: At that point, I was nearly twenty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I hope this email finds you well.
Speaker 4: Genuinely, I was like, why aren't they contacting me? Like
Speaker 4: I'm an adult. This is so weird.
Speaker 2: I feel like this is some level of breach of
Speaker 2: privacy from big police. Like I don't know, but I'd
Speaker 2: be pretty mad if they were calling my parents about
Speaker 2: something i'd been doing what if you had been doing
Speaker 2: it and they just outed you to your parents and
Speaker 2: they're not the person that you would call it baile
Speaker 2: you out.
Speaker 5: Like jeez, thank you constable. Yeah no, And so Dad
Speaker 5: like chexts me with a screen shot. Well I'm in class,
Speaker 5: and he's like, you know, like what have you done?
Speaker 5: I was like, oh my god, like I have not
Speaker 5: done anything. I have no idea what's going on. And
Speaker 5: he's like, oh what.
Speaker 4: And then everyone was freaking out and mom and dad
Speaker 4: were like, oh, we got to.
Speaker 5: Talk to a lawyer, like so on and so forth, because,
Speaker 5: as I said earlier, like we we thought it was
Speaker 5: like a scam to start with, because it was like
Speaker 5: quite a unique name that again never heard before.
Speaker 4: I don't think I'll ever hear it again.
Speaker 2: And we're like, yeah, he's listening to it now, and
Speaker 2: he's like, hey, I'm not a scammer. I'm just a
Speaker 2: friendly cop who's just trying to dub on you to
Speaker 2: your dad exactly exactly. So what then happened? You literally
Speaker 2: ended up getting arrested so that you could be formally
Speaker 2: interviewed by police. You clearly got let go, which is
Speaker 2: a win, a money win, they could say, but how
Speaker 2: much money or how much debt had they racked up?
Speaker 2: Because we talked about credit history before, like what were
Speaker 2: they doing? How were they using your identity?
Speaker 4: They had done a whole bunch of different things.
Speaker 5: Obviously there was it was mainly like fast loan kind
Speaker 5: of things.
Speaker 4: I forget what they were all called.
Speaker 5: I think the most like well known of those would
Speaker 5: have been Latitude.
Speaker 4: They spent the most money there, I think, But.
Speaker 5: Overall it was like I think somewhere between forty and
Speaker 5: sixty thousand dollars in credit.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 5: From memory, I think one of them was like like
Speaker 5: they have hired out a boat.
Speaker 4: Or something and didn't return it. There's some weird things
Speaker 4: in there.
Speaker 2: What on ear So they've got like a lot of
Speaker 2: fast credit, which kind of makes sense for identity theft
Speaker 2: purely because fast cash. We all lack some fast cash,
Speaker 2: especially if it is stolen. But a boat, what were
Speaker 2: they doing just having a good boat weekend?
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 5: It was weird because like when you're cleaning up the
Speaker 5: credit record, you have to go through and like call
Speaker 5: in all of the individual companies and send them like
Speaker 5: the stat deck and the police report and all this
Speaker 5: other stuff.
Speaker 4: And you know, prove that you're right. D's changed off,
Speaker 4: Like there's just so much stuff you have to do.
Speaker 4: And yeah, I was calling that one and they weren't
Speaker 4: like a like a credit.
Speaker 5: Place, and I was like, this is weird, okay, And
Speaker 5: yeah they took it off my record.
Speaker 2: Yeah, hello, sorry about your bouch. I wish I had
Speaker 2: a bouche. I don't have a bow. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: that is so bizarre.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 2: Do we have an update on this case? Have they
Speaker 2: found the person who did it? Are they in trouble?
Speaker 2: Is this just something that can happen and you just
Speaker 2: wipe it off like you're giving me anxiety?
Speaker 5: I think they had found the person, So I suppose
Speaker 5: back to earlier how it all came up was because
Speaker 5: this woman who'd taken my identity had used my identity
Speaker 5: and then stolen this other guy's cards and was buying
Speaker 5: things with his cards in my name, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so they thought you were being dodgy.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so they I think it was like culture Kings
Speaker 5: or something she was doing clicking collects in my name
Speaker 5: but like not paying.
Speaker 4: I can't quite remember how all.
Speaker 5: Panned out, but they had her on security footage, so
Speaker 5: in the eMate, well, in the subsequent emails to.
Speaker 4: My dad, they were like, oh, can you just like
Speaker 4: send us.
Speaker 5: A photo of your daughter and we'll just like rule
Speaker 5: her out as long as she doesn't look like this
Speaker 5: person that we're chasing down. But then Dad like emailed
Speaker 5: a photo of me and they're like, oh, no, actually
Speaker 5: they look kind of similar. Did she come in please,
Speaker 5: because obviously, like she's got my like driver's license, so
Speaker 5: she you know, changed her hand and like whatever, so
Speaker 5: she looked like obviously, if I was looking at the photo,
Speaker 5: I'd be like, that's not me. But like, you know,
Speaker 5: to someone who never met me and only had one
Speaker 5: random photo.
Speaker 2: I needed to check.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Dad didn't even like ask my advice on the phone.
Speaker 4: I said, come on.
Speaker 2: Anyway, Oh so you didn't even send a good picture
Speaker 2: of you. No one out of ten, dad, one. So
Speaker 2: very strange for the cops to just email you and
Speaker 2: be like, hello, kind sir, please send a high RESK
Speaker 2: picture of your.
Speaker 5: Daughter to ask we'd like to rule her out from
Speaker 5: a crime. Thanks, Like that is guinely.
Speaker 2: Look, I have absolutely no doubt that you're telling the truth.
Speaker 2: Sometimes the truth is more bizarre than a lie or
Speaker 2: a story.
Speaker 4: It's too ridiculous to not be true.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a lot. What does your dad think of that? Now?
Speaker 2: Is this something that just comes up at family Christmas?
Speaker 2: Like you're the family criminal?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 2: Is that how this works?
Speaker 4: No, it's just like funny.
Speaker 5: All my friends and everyone knows about it, and it's
Speaker 5: all just like the biggest gag. It's like whenever you know,
Speaker 5: on the old occasion like never have I ever or
Speaker 5: like someone's like, oh, like never ever been arrested?
Speaker 4: I was like I remember that time. Oh no, yes,
Speaker 4: that sort of thing.
Speaker 2: To be honest, it sounds like this has actually worked
Speaker 2: out really nicely. Yeah, because a lot of people who
Speaker 2: go through processes like this don't end up in as
Speaker 2: lucky as circumstances. So I kind of want to know
Speaker 2: because we've had someone on the podcast before where, you know,
Speaker 2: completely different situation. It was actually a partner who had
Speaker 2: racked up a whole heap of debt in there name
Speaker 2: what did you do to get out of that? So
Speaker 2: you spoke to a lawyer through your family, and then
Speaker 2: what did you do contact every single credit company? And
Speaker 2: what happened?
Speaker 5: So after like I'd had the interview with the police,
Speaker 5: and they were like, is this your email?
Speaker 4: And I was like, no, is this your phone number? No,
Speaker 4: so and so forth, because obviously this person made all
Speaker 4: these documents in my name.
Speaker 5: Then they were like right, you know, like you're free
Speaker 5: to go, but i'd have mugshots and fingerprints so they
Speaker 5: get rid of They destroy them as long as you
Speaker 5: haven't been linked to a crime, like within six months
Speaker 5: of them collecting them, and I was like, oh, yeah, okay, no.
Speaker 2: I kind of want them to keep that. The idea
Speaker 2: that I have a mug shot on file definitely gives
Speaker 2: me more street credit.
Speaker 4: I know, like if I ever went missing, it would
Speaker 4: come out. I'm sure, but.
Speaker 2: Don't go missing. We don't want to see those I know.
Speaker 5: After that, because they like cleared me of being involved
Speaker 5: with it, I suppose they wrote me like a police
Speaker 5: report with the whole situation, did a stat deck for me,
Speaker 5: which was really helpful because then I just took those
Speaker 5: documents to like all the different credit providers and I
Speaker 5: was like, here's the police support, here's the stat deck,
Speaker 5: like this is what happened. Take it off my report please,
Speaker 5: And some places were really really helpful, like Latitude for example, again,
Speaker 5: they were so nice and so helpful and like telling
Speaker 5: me all these different things I should be aware of
Speaker 5: and to contact big roads and everything. But other places
Speaker 5: would just give you like the third degree and they're like, oh, well,
Speaker 5: you know if this is a scam, and you're on
Speaker 5: the other end of the frame and being like it
Speaker 5: is like I have the police support and I've got
Speaker 5: the stat deck and I've sent them to you there
Speaker 5: in your inbox.
Speaker 2: And like call the cops, ask them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, listally and they're like, oh well if and you're like,
Speaker 5: oh my gosh, come on, just take it off, would you.
Speaker 4: Like it was ridiculous.
Speaker 5: And this all happened right before, like within a month
Speaker 5: of me leaving to go on exchange take Canada for
Speaker 5: six months. So I was like desperately trying to get
Speaker 5: it all done. And then I sort of left and
Speaker 5: I was like, oh well, whatever, I'm in another country now.
Speaker 5: And then I got back and checked and then went
Speaker 5: through the whole proce again with the people.
Speaker 4: That hadn't changed it yet. So yeah, after you know,
Speaker 4: eight months later, it's finally sought.
Speaker 2: That's crazy. I feel like that story actually gives me
Speaker 2: a little bit of hope though that obviously you were
Speaker 2: quite confident. You're like, I didn't do this. There was
Speaker 2: not a lot of trauma involved in the circumstances, so
Speaker 2: you're probably very confident picking up the phone being like
Speaker 2: absolutely not. But for people who go through these circumstances
Speaker 2: and are just really unsure, I guess the process is
Speaker 2: talk to the police, then talk to the credit issuers,
Speaker 2: and actually work out what the process is, because this
Speaker 2: is just proof that you can get out of it,
Speaker 2: and it just might take a little bit more life,
Speaker 2: Adamin than you'd like it to.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5: The most difficult part for me was contacting Equifax because
Speaker 5: at that age and I suppose of it now, like
Speaker 5: I've never had any credit in my own name, so
Speaker 5: they didn't actually have like a credit file for me.
Speaker 4: So this woman, because like you.
Speaker 5: Know, your license has like your first name, the first
Speaker 5: an issue of your middle name and your last name,
Speaker 5: this person like made up a middle name for me
Speaker 5: which was not my middle name. So when I was
Speaker 5: trying to like prove us to Equifax, they were like, oh,
Speaker 5: well that's not your middle name, and they'd like made
Speaker 5: up all this like employment history as well that i'd
Speaker 5: like worked at Telshi stuff.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh, good boy, congratulations on the promotions.
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks, thanks.
Speaker 5: No, but when I was trying to, you know, prove
Speaker 5: my identity to them, they were like, oh, well, that's
Speaker 5: not your middle name, that's not your work history, that's
Speaker 5: not like your credit blah blah. So that was like
Speaker 5: so frustrating because it took a while to even be
Speaker 5: able to access the credit report, and I couldn't block
Speaker 5: more credit until I could access it in the first place.
Speaker 5: In the meantime, we're still getting like letters at home
Speaker 5: from banks and Amex and whatever, and this person, I'm
Speaker 5: pretty sure they came to like familyhouse and like went
Speaker 5: through ound mail and was like stealing the ones that
Speaker 5: were addressed to me as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so it was just like a nightmare.
Speaker 5: But once I finally got the Equifax identity sorted, then
Speaker 5: they've blocked it and I had enough time to remove everything.
Speaker 2: That is terrifying. And the idea that they potentially came
Speaker 2: to your family home and went through your mail and
Speaker 2: stole the ones that they needed, Oh.
Speaker 5: Yeah, because they've got your address and they know, yeah,
Speaker 5: it's really ridiculous.
Speaker 2: You know what. That's the part that makes me feel
Speaker 2: really gross. Yeah, no, that is very unsettling. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: Money dires. This has been a pleasure having a chat
Speaker 2: with you. I feel like we are already best friends,
Speaker 2: but unfortunately that is all we have time for today.
Speaker 2: So thank you so much for joining us, no.
Speaker 4: Problem, Thanks so much for having me. It's been so
Speaker 4: lovely to chat to you.
Speaker 2: The advice shared on She's on the Money is generally
Speaker 2: nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on
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Speaker 2: If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
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