A single mother has been forced to pay thousands of dollars in traffic fines despite not having a valid driver’s license or a car.
Tamara, 32, says she has received 16 different infringement notices this year alone relating to 14 different licence plate numbers, none of which are hers as she does not own a vehicle.
His most recent driver’s license expired three years ago.
Several alleged violations captured by road safety cameras show bearded men behind the wheel.
The ongoing saga has pushed the Melbourne mother to breaking point amid fears her identity has been stolen after she was caught up in the massive Optus data breach two years ago.
“It’s really tough and it’s affecting my mental health,” Tamara told A Current Affair as she fought back tears.
‘I’m not the driver. I don’t drive any vehicle, I don’t even have a license. I have no idea what to think, really, because it’s inexplicable.
“It doesn’t make any sense and nobody should. It doesn’t add up and it’s clearly fraudulent.”
The ordeal she is going through has brought Tamara (pictured), a single mother, to the breaking point.
While most of the fines dating back to 2022 are from Victoria, three were in New South Wales, including Sydney, a city Tamara insists she has never been to.
“This is something that needs to be investigated,” he said.
Some fines were sent to Tamara’s mother, Sharon, who lives on the border between Victoria and New South Wales.
“To see my daughter, she’s been recovering all these years, and now this has happened and it’s taken a toll on her,” Sharon said.
Tamara was able to locate photographs taken by road safety cameras of four of the alleged violations.
In all of them, men are clearly seen at the wheel, including two with beards.
“It’s clear that I don’t have a beard. The person in the photo is a man. Anyone with eyes can see that it’s not me,” Tamara said.
One possible explanation behind the erroneous fines is that Tamara was one of millions of Australians whose personal identity, including their old driving licence, was stolen by hackers during the massive Optus data breach.
An image captured by a road camera of an alleged offender of one of the fines that Tamara received
Melbourne lawyer Justin Lawrence said it could be that those who received the tickets filled out a form nominating someone else as a driver and used Tamara’s details.
These statements only require the designated driver’s name, address, date of birth, and license number.
Mr Lawrence said the process was open to abuse.
“At a minimum, the person nominated should sign the form to acknowledge that they have been nominated,” he said.
Mr Lawrence said Tamara’s starting point should be to not pay the fines and ask the authorities to prove she was the alleged offender.
“There is a flaw in the system somewhere and she has the right to challenge those fines,” he said.
“The system depends on the information it has. If the information is inaccurate, the system cannot function.”
Tamara filed a formal complaint with Victoria Police.
Several violations captured by road cameras show men behind the wheel
“Victoria Police will now work with Fines Victoria to investigate the circumstances of these incidents and resolve these matters,” the statement said.
‘Members of the public who believe they have been falsely nominated for a traffic offence should contact Fines Victoria.’
Optus has apologised again for the massive data breach that affected millions of Australians.
“Optus deeply regrets the cyber attack that occurred. Customers expect their information to remain secure and this did not happen,” the telecoms company told the programme.
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