Optus data breach: how to protect yourself from credit fraud

Optus customers should consider a credit ban especially if they see signs of identity theft, finance specialist Taylor Blackburn said. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

As Optus announced Monday that it had commissioned Deloitte to conduct an independent external review of the company’s massive data breach, customers were still grappling with how best to protect themselves from identity fraud.

The telco announced last week it would be offering a 12-month subscription to Equifax Protect credit monitoring to all affected customers, who could expect to receive direct communications from Optus “over the coming days” on how to start their 12-month subscription.