MyACC online as investigations into apparent fraud continue
ACC’s self-service online platform is now operational for most clients following the discovery of apparent fraudulent activity. For those still unable to use MyACC, we’re continuing to provide support via our branches, contact centre and email.
The majority of our clients will now be able to access MyACC after our self-service online platform was brought back online today.
On Friday 17 November, MyACC was temporarily shut down following the discovery of apparent fraudulent activity.
The fraud was picked up after ACC initially detected a small number of unusual transactions. The people behind the apparent fraud appear to have used MyACC to submit fraudulent travel reimbursement claims to ACC for financial gain.
There is no evidence that ACC’s cyber security was compromised. While our investigations are ongoing, MyACC is now operational for most clients.
ACC Deputy Chief Executive for Service Delivery Amanda Malu says we are contacting those clients who may have been affected by the apparent fraud. We are also seeking to further enhance our current systems.
“The majority of our clients will now be able to access MyACC to apply for weekly compensation and access services and reimbursements,” Amanda says.
“To minimise the risk of further fraudulent activity on the site, we have temporarily reduced some of its functionality and introduced additional identity checks. Additional checks around travel expenses mean reimbursements may take a bit longer than usual and we have also restricted access for some clients.
“An external expert has been commissioned to review our operational systems, processes, practices and policies in response to this incident and the ever-increasing issue of identity fraud.”
ACC is still investigating to determine exactly how many MyACC accounts were accessed.
Once the apparent fraud was detected, ACC started a forensic investigation alongside external partners to determine more about the perpetrators and the possible original source of the information that was used.
At this stage it seems that a large proportion of those committing the apparent fraud were using their own MyACC account, or the accounts of others who had shared identity information with them.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has been notified of the issues and we continue to work with CERT NZ and Police.
While MyACC was offline we supported our clients by providing extended hours of service. For those still unable to use the platform, we will continue to support them via our branches, contact centre and email.
More information about these options is available on our website.
“We’re deeply disappointed at the disruption the apparent fraud has caused,” Amanda says.
“We ask our clients to be patient with our teams who are doing the best they can to manually manage claims that would normally be processed online through our MyACC platform.”