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.
What’s that in the picture?
Click on it. It’s one of those new-fangled things called a “link.”
Sorry Homeland Security is FAR TO BUSY tracking down moms at school board meetings GEEZE how many things are they supposed to handle, those VERY DANGEROUS moms are storming the country /s
“If they are too stupid to fall for this scam they need to pay this guy”
It’s not that phone companies are stupid. It’s that 10,000 minimum wage employees at Verizon have access to your account. If someone has $200 and wants your account details, it doesn’t take many calls to find a willing partner.
I also had T-Mobile and my phone constantly was saying didn’t recognize SIM, I dumped T-Mobile haven’t had the problem since!!
I didn’t see in the article HOW they are doing that.
Your phone number is registered to your SIM card. Move the SIM card to another phone and the new phone rings when you dial the number.
The thief called the phone company and tricked them into registering the guy's phone number to a new SIM card in the thief's possession.
I would say for a few hundred bucks they could find MANY willing partners to many kids today have the mindset of taking down THE MAN, they don’t give a damn about the companies they work for!! This needs to come with SEVERE consequences however with todays DA’s I seriously doubt that will happen!!
Call tech support to any of them. None of them ring an American, all are oversea call centers. Ironically in a similar geographical area to the scammers. Where do you think they get all the info? Big companies are just handing it over.
Social engineering. Two minute video example:
https://youtu.be/lc7scxvKQOo
The thief called the phone company and tricked them into registering the guy’s phone number to a new SIM card in the thief’s possession.
Based on what you said, it is the phone company that was fooled here - and therefore responsible for damages.
Nailed it.
I was just guessing and proposed a possible scenario so the OP would understand what a SIM swap is.
I did not mean to imply that I know exactly what happened.
Ok, I am not very technologically intelligent. I know my old flip phone had a SIM card, but do iPhones have them also? I’ve never been asked to switch out my SIM card since I got an iPhone. Is this something I should worry about?
This guy didn’t do anything wrong. The financial institutions he does business were duped. This should be their responsibility and not his. I don’t understand why, when a bank or investment house falls for a false representation it becomes the problem of one of their customers.
Welcome to the 21st Century.
I pretty much use my iPhone device for everything. From storing and using my train tickets, my movie tickets, my airplane boarding passes and paying for just about anything (Apple Pay or Venmo). All my banking and stock transactions are done over the iPhone.
You do need to be careful though.
> • Do not store passwords, usernames, or other information for easy login on mobile device applications.
Well, I use a password manager. It was a lot of work to get organized on that though. I think they’re referring to the common method of keeping a spreadsheet or text file like so many do.
Some numbers can be transferred between phones. Like if you’re getting rid of your landline for a cell and want to keep the landline number you might be able to have it ring in on your cell. — From the article though it looks like there’s more involved in it than that if they can find out about your financial logins.
ping
No. I appreciate it!
That video should be a training film for phone company call centers.
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