KEY POINTS:
A woman who racked up loans of almost $20,000 by using the personal details of three friends, and even her own sister, will be sentenced this week.
Phillippa Millanta pleaded guilty to 11 charges of fraud last month, the New Zealand Listener reported yesterday.
Millanta's school friend, Sonja Bury (27), told the magazine the first she knew of the deception was when a finance company called about "her" $6000 loan.
"They rang me at work to say I was late on my payment, and I was like, 'Payment of what?'."
A police investigation found Bury had been the victim of identity crime. Detective Sergeant David Kennedy, head of the Identity Intelligence Unit, warned this type of offence was on the rise - and often went undetected.
Bury told the magazine that all Millanta needed to steal her identity was her name, birth date, and some computer know-how.
"It's scary how little information you need and how little checking is done," Bury said.
Millanta had previously worked in a bank and knew how to fake a payslip; for the photo ID, she changed the name on her own driver's licence and sent a copy to Pacific Retail Finance.
At the time, the company did not have the technology to cross-check the name and number on the licence.
Just a few months before Millanta used Bury's details, the pair had met for lunch - Bury gave her friend bags of food because she knew she was struggling, the Listener reported.
Police tracked Millanta because she used her own email address when making some of the applications. But often, police said, finance companies had no idea when a person had defrauded them, and often wound up carrying the cost when offenders were caught.
