Identity Theft – Phone Account Hijacking
How can an identity thief hijack your mobile phone account?
Here is a true story of a lady who experienced the expense and indignity of becoming a victim of Identity Theft.
Her mobile phone was “hijacked,” and thousands of dollars were charged to her account.
1. The first signs of trouble were when her phones stopped receiving inbound calls.
2. Next, the enormous bill for phones she never purchased.
3. The fear of financial ruin was all too real for this innocent victim.
Reality Check – Actions taken by the victim
The realization that her cell phone no longer works during mid-sentence was an incredible and terrifying experience that expensive trouble had found her.
The victim called her mobile carrier using her landline. The depth of financial “insult” was about to make itself known to the unsuspecting lady.
Actions of Phone Thief
The thief updated the victim’s mobile account to the most “expensive” iPhone models available.
The thief went so far as deactivating the victim’s SIM cards.
The thief was savvy enough to suspect that by going to a different retailer, that store’s employees didn’t check the account holder’s photo ID or the last four digits of the “imposters” social security number.
The carrier told the victim that the theft was her fault.
The victim was asked to take her Android phone to a mobile carrier’s retail store.
The store manager replaced her SIM card at no charge but then blamed the theft on the victim.
Victim’s Actions after the Fact
When the victim arrived home, she called the mobile carrier’s fraud department and reported the incident. “Next, she changed her password and added an extra security PIN recommended by the fraud department.”
Next, she logged into the FTC’s Identitytheft.gov website and reported the theft and how she could protect herself in the future.
Please follow the “identitytheft.gov checklist. Next, place a “fraud alert” with the three credit bureaus. Don’t forget to obtain a free credit report. One more important task is to prepare an identity theft complaint affidavit.
If evil strikes you too, take a copy of the “Identity Theft Complaint Affidavit” with you when you go to the local police station to file a police report.
Section 609(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act does require companies to provide business records related to identity theft.
According to Section 609(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a company has within 30 days of receiving a written request to provide business records to victims of identity theft.
SIM Swap or SIM Splitting
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2. Some thieves make it a business to purchase your bank account info or acquire your information through a phishing attack.
3. Another method of acquiring your personal information is by looking for your public information on social networks, which helps them gather answers to your security questions.
4. Now the thieves are ready to impersonate you, call your mobile phone company, and report that “you have” damaged or lost your phone. Next, the thieves ask your phone carrier to cancel the SIM card in “your” phone and activate a new SIM card with your phone number into their phone.
5. Now, the thieves are ready to make bank account transactions because they know how to respond to phone calls and text messages that are now being directed to their phone, using your phone number.
6. The victimized person’s phone has stopped operating as soon as the crooks had finished swapping out the SIM card. The victim’s phone was not functioning.
She also did not notice that her bank account was now empty.
Preventative Actions to protect you and Accounts
SIM swap scams are increasing in Europe and the United States of America. Fraudsters are also busy purchasing their next victim’s information on the “black market” or rogue employees of banks or mobile carriers.
What can a consumer do to protect themselves from mobile account takeovers?
Establish a password or pin required before making changes to your mobile account. Different carriers offer this feature in slightly different ways.
