Medicare details of Australians available for sale in the darknet

• Medicare Madness product listings suggest that Medicare details of Australians are available for sale since September 2018.
• These listings are available to “verified customers only” who have previously purchased products worth at least $200.

After two years of Medicare data leak, the Medicare details belonging to Australians are still available for sale in the Empire Market.

Medicare Madness

Vendor Medicare Machine has changed its name to Medicare Madness and is offering Medicare details for $21 in the Empire Market. Likewise, other vendors are selling fake Medicare cards alongside other fake forms of identification such as a New South Wales license for $34.

• Medicare Madness product listings suggest that Medicare details of Australians are available for sale since September 2018.
• The listings also suggest that none of the products for sale have been sold since September, however, it could also be generated by the vendor.

These listings are available to “verified customers only” who have previously purchased products worth at least $200.

In a statement, Catherine King, a spokesperson for Labor’s health, criticized the Liberals for not taking effective action against the breach. “[Liberals] told us they’d dealt with this breach. But now we once again have criminals selling Medicare information online. It’s yet another reminder of their shocking record on privacy and cyber security … Australians simply cannot trust them to get this right.”

Medicare details sold since 2017

Guardian Australia first reported in July 2017 that Medicare details are put up for sale in the darknet. A review was conducted on this matter by Peter Shergold, former secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The review did not identify the source of the Medicare data leak but suggested that fraudsters could use publicly available information about healthcare providers such as their provider number and practice location to bypass security checks and obtain a Medicare card number through the Department of Human Services provider’s hotline.