SIM swapping and the rising SIM hijacking threat
A victim shares how port-out hijacking allows thieves to take over a phone number and redirect calls and texts to themselves. The author recounts $20,000 and $19,000 transfers, the difficulty of restoring access, and notes FBI data showing SIM swapping complaints rose over 400 percent from 2018 to 2021 with losses over $68 million.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Discover
FBI
Internet Crime Complaint Center
Protecting Against SIM Swapping in the New York Area
SIM swapping is rising as criminals take over phone numbers to access texts and calls. Experts urge stronger authentication, unique carrier passcodes, and non SMS verification while noting breaches, phishing, and data leaks fuel theft. Victims should report phishing, freeze credit, alert banks, and push carriers for stronger protections.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
At&t
U.S
Associated Press
Federal Trade Commission
Internet Crime Complaint Center
Equifax
Experian
TransUnion
Tobac
FCC
AT&T data breach hits nearly all customers worldwide
AT&T disclosed a security breach traced to a third party on Snowflake that affected about 109 million accounts. The data exposed includes call and text records from 2022 and 2023 but not direct contents or full personal identifiers, though names could be inferred from numbers via public tools. Authorities such as the FBI and DOJ are involved, with ongoing investigations and previous related incidents noted.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
FCC
Rachel Tobac
Social Proof Security
At&t
Who
Thomas Richards
Synopsys Software Integrity Group
Roel Sherman
Mitiga
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Justice Department
FBI
Department of Justice
U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
DOJ
Secu
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Fatima Hussein
The
Proofpoint
White House
SocialProof Security
CTIA
Ohio State University
Amy Schmitz
Cricket Wireless
Bank of America
Cricket
Michelle Chapman
Att.com
Rity and
Public Safety
Federal Communications Commission
CDK Global
Alabama
Ren
Www
SomersAgency
Alegne
Sun.-Thur
I Wy . Nielsen
Broadway
Lorain
Nielsenjewelers.com
Zanes
NielsenJewelers
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