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A Melbourne woman has been left devastated after her number was duplicated by Optus, exposing sensitive files to a stranger.
Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, thought she was safe keeping her original number after switching to a new service provider from Optus in May.
However, that soon changed last week, when she was notified her number had been given to a new Optus customer.
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"I received a text saying, 'Hello', with the name of person, 'thank you for your new purchase with Optus'," she said.
"I found it quite suspicious. I found that they sold my number to a new customer."
Sarah, who is a healthcare worker, said the new customer had commandeered her WhatsApp account, exposing sensitive images and information, including a video of her giving birth.
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"I lost access to my WhatsApp. It shut down," Sarah said.
"It contained very personal photos of my children and I became distressed that someone had access to that.
"It's pretty terrifying. I felt violated.
"I am still locked out of it and can't get back in."
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After getting in contact with Optus, Sarah said it was difficult to get any answer or form of reply about the incident.
"Optus hadn't contacted me," she said.
"I called them quite distressed and I got onto someone and they found my case but they didn't have the authority to do anything about it.
"That was extremely frustrating.
"My number is also attached to a number of different verification tools and I was getting worried about our finances.
"It wasn't until I started firing off emails to Optus executives did I have someone call me."
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The 29-year-old has also received text messages from the other person's family, notifying her about messages she was meant to receive.
"It's a shambles," she said.
"I asked if I would be compensated and they said they would give me a $100 cheque, which I still haven't received."
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An Optus spokesperson said it was aware of the incident and was working to fix the issue.
"We have reached out to the customer to apologise and rectify the situation," the spokesperson said.
"We regret that on this occasion a customer's experience hasn't met the high standards that Optus strives to achieve for our customers."
