Did you know it’s possible for a scammer to gain access to your phone and pull money from your bank account?
Unfortunately, this is a scam called Sim Card Swapping that has impacted many people and left them with thousands of dollars stolen from their account! Scary right? Want to protect yourself against this scam? Keep reading to learn more.
What is a Sim Card? The Sim Card is either a physical or electronic card in your phone that connects to your phone carrier.
Let's describe how we know we've been scammed!
Most of us use our cell phone for checking email, shopping, banking, and more. Imagine this morning you open your phone to check your account balance, but your phone is not working. You cannot text, receive phone calls, or access the internet. What is going on?
You go to your laptop to look up your carrier’s phone number. Your email pops up with a notification from your carrier that your SIM card is now active on a new device! What is happening? Who did this? You think to yourself, I use my phone for everything. How am I going to get into my bank account without my phone? You immediately contact your bank. When speaking with the bank representative regarding your balance, your balance is only $500.00! The last time you checked you had over $20,000 in the account.
You are a victim of the Sim Card Swapping Scam!
Now let's get to how this happened in the first place!
The scammer contacts your phone carrier and informs them that you lost your phone and need a new SIM Card for the new phone. If the carrier activates the new Sim card, the scammer will now receive all your text messages, calls, data, etc. This allows them to receive any special codes needed to access accounts and other apps and even your information.
Don’t let this happen to you! Keep reading for tips on how to protect yourself from this scam.
SIM card swap protection tips:
- Setup a pin or password on your cellular account. Do this NOW to protect against this sort of scam!
- Do not reply to calls, emails, or text messages that request personal or other information. Do not click on links within emails or these texts.
- Never provide your account number or personal information over the phone, via text, or email.
- Many of us enjoy interacting with family and friends on social media. But we need to safeguard and limit the amount of personal information shared online. This information could be used by scammers to impersonate you.
- Use stronger authentication for accounts – especially those that have sensitive personal or financial information. Keep in mind if you use an authentication method that sends you a code via a call or text message, this may not stop the scammer if your SIM card has been swapped. Use an authentication app or a security key if supported.
- Check your carrier's website for additional tips. We've linked two of the most common carriers' tips below:
If you’ve been a victim of a SIM Card Swap
Contact your bank ASAP to inform them you have been a victim of this scam, and your phone has been compromised.
- Contact your carrier ASAP!
- Set a pin or code with your phone carrier to ensure no changes can be made to your account without this code.
- Once you gain access to your phone number, change all of your passwords (i.e. accounts, social, email)
- Implement additional authentication methods.
- If the scammer has your information, go to Identity Theft.gov to report and get steps for recovery.