Posted on 05/14/2022 9:47:58 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Dan Clark says his future changed in an instant as his life savings of more than $700,000 vanished.
“My phone said, ‘No service, SIM card.’ And I didn’t even know what a SIM card was,” Clark said.
By the time he found out, it was too late. His phone number had been transferred to a crook’s device, and Clark’s accounts, including his proceeds in investments in cryptocurrency, were wiped out.
“I lost everything in a matter of a few hours,” he said. “Life’s work, a few hours.”
Clark quickly learned he was a victim of a SIM swap, a sophisticated scheme the FBI warns is sweeping the country. In 2021, the FBI received 1,611 SIM swapping complaints representing $68 million in losses to consumers.
The FBI explains that crooks trick mobile carriers to transfer your SIM, basically your phone number, to a device they control — either by impersonating you or, in some cases, paying off a phone carrier employee.
The FBI has warned of criminals gaining control of cell phone SIM cards from unknowing victims and stealing their personal information, including bank account and financial app details.
These scams netted criminals $68 million in 2021 alone, the FBI said, and it received more than 1,611 complaints. Compare that to $12 million in losses in 2018 to 2020.
Man loses $82K in fake car sale; BBB warns of other scams The FBI is urging the public to be aware of suspicious emails and not to advertise investments in cryptocurrency or other financial assets.
“Once the SIM is swapped, the victim’s calls, texts and other data are diverted to the criminal’s device,” the FBI said. “This access allows criminals to send ‘Forgot Password’ or ‘Account Recovery’ requests to the victim’s email and other online accounts associated with the victim’s mobile telephone number.
Clark’s case is currently under investigation by the FBI. T-Mobile confirms his SIM was swapped numerous times — even after he regained access to his phone and asked for an alert on his account to stop swaps.
T-Mobile has not responded to requests for comment from WFLA.
Clark is still hopeful he’ll get his money back. In the meantime, he wants to warn you.
“I want to protect other people from this. It’s a crazy world that we live in. It’s a very fast-paced world that we live in, a very fast-paced electronic world. And like I said, $1,600 cases last year to $68 million, and I am a statistic of that.”
The FBI recommends individuals take the following precautions:
• Do not advertise information about financial assets, including ownership or investment of cryptocurrency, on social media websites and forums.
• Do not provide your mobile number account information over the phone to representatives that request your account password or pin. Verify the call by dialing the customer service line of your mobile carrier.
• Avoid posting personal information online, such as mobile phone number, address, or other personal identifying information.
• Use a variation of unique passwords to access online accounts. Be aware of any changes in SMS-based connectivity.
• Use strong multi-factor authentication methods such as biometrics, physical security tokens, or standalone authentication applications to access online accounts.
• Do not store passwords, usernames, or other information for easy login on mobile device applications.
How about not using your phone for financial transactions? How stupid can people be?
“including his proceeds in investments in cryptocurrency, were wiped out.”
$700,000 in Crypto means he lost about $70 in real world money.
He didn’t know what a SIM card was but he was dabbling in crypto. suuuuure
“Investments” in Cryptocurrency is like “Investments” in slot machines.
Doesn’t matter if you use the phone for that or not. They’re stealing your phone NUMBER, so they’ll be able to change passwords on any of your accounts. If they control your phone, they have functional control over being you. Most people these days use their cell phone for everything, so they’ll have control over everything from your bank account to your electric bill.
Any cell company employee who would sell a persons SIM info need to be sent to prison without parole for at least 20 years. Scum.
He may not have been using his phone for transactions.
A lot of websites and financial institutions have two-part verification where they send a code to your phone when you try to log in.
Snag somebody's phone number through a SIM swap and you get the verification text.
That's why I have one of these:
Money quote: “including his proceeds in investments in cryptocurrency”
quote “The FBI explains that crooks trick mobile carriers to transfer your SIM, basically your phone number, to a device they control”
this is 100% the telephone carriers fault!
If they are too stupid to fall for this scam they need to pay this guy and everyone else back for their incompetence!
The FBI explains that crooks trick mobile carriers to transfer your SIM, basically your phone number, to a device they control — either by impersonating you or, in some cases, paying off a phone carrier employee.
Except that he could buy a Lamborghini or two with the crypto.
“• Avoid posting personal information online, such as mobile phone number, address, or other personal identifying information.”
Sorry, but that Genie has been out of the bottle for a long time. Actually most of the information is a matter of public record. The interweb just made it easier to find.
Interesting. My T-Mobile Nord 10 phone, at 13 months of age, intermittently stopped seeing the SIM card. We were 2000 miles from home, in Arizona (we live in Kentucky) and they replaced the SIM, which worked for a while, until it didn’t. Long story short, when we got back home I had to go to the T-Mobile store and replace the phone for their current “free” phone, the REVV thingee.
I wonder if mine was an “attempt” to steal my stuff. I doubt it, since the people at neither store were able to get my oneplus phone up and running.
They’re stealing your phone NUMBER
It’s Jason Bourne...
It’s called convenience. I personally try to avoid it but there are times when its easier than going to my bank. But I’m not trading stocks or crypto either.
Where I live, your lucky if you can get through the drive-thru in 30 minutes and with the covid lockdown that became even worse. The line inside the banks pre-covid were horrific.
The Hispanic population will do all their banking for families at one time. Its so bad that the banks put up signs limiting the number of transactions to 3 per car.
I factor in the price of gas and my time when making these decisions.
A no brainer from the get go. People have been thieves since we know anything. What makes anybody think that some automated, pervasive, electronic gizmo is gonna protect your hard work?
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