Thursday, October 31, 2019

In this scam, criminals can clean out your financial accounts with just your phone number - MarketWatch

In this scam, criminals can clean out your financial accounts with just your phone number - MarketWatch

  • If you’re not familiar with SIM swap fraud, prepare to be terrified.
"This scam, also known as port-out or SIM splitting fraud, allows criminals to hijack your cellphone number. 
Image result for port-out or SIM splitting fraudOnce they have your number, the bad guys can clean out your financial accounts, confiscate your email, delete your data and take over your social media profiles.
Fraudsters can do all this because many companies — including banks, brokerages, email providers and social media platforms — verify your identity by texting a code to your cellphone. 
Intercepting those codes can give a criminal an all-access pass to your financial and digital life...

  • This is the fraud the experts fear most
The potential damage is so great that security expert Avivah Litan, vice president at research firm Gartner Inc., fears losing her phone number far more than having her Social Security number compromised..."
Read all.

No comments: