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.
It has with me. They just take the sun out of the old phone and stick it in the new
It’s too bad about your credit score, but having that card cancelled might be a good thing.
If I was in your shoes, I’d consider doing a credit lock. All it does is put a line on your credit report asking any bank or credit card company opening an account in your name to contact you before finalizing it. -—And I’m probably just paranoid but a credit lock only lasts for a year and will give you some security if you’re worried about fraud.
“this is 100% the telephone carriers fault!”
Agree
Thanks for the info about password manager precautions.
I remember in the 1980s or early 90s when my great aunts in their old age were having a meltdown when they had to call their bank just after the recordings of “Press 1 for checking, press 2 for...” had been introduced. I shudder to think how hard it’s going to be for us old people now in the coming decade(s).
any idea how to do this?
Be aware of any changes in SMS-based connectivity.
The thief should be punished harshly.
Hmmm...
Story as presented does not hold water. Whoever stole the phone number must have had other information to be so quick at draining his accounts.
Such as his IDs and passwords. They needed his phone so they could complete the verification process needed to access his accounts from an unregistered device. But I’ll bet you they had everything else, already.
Assuming I’m right, this circumstance may complicate a legal claim against his phone carrier.
More happy than ever before that I NEVER owned a cell phone.
I do ZERO financial transactions online.
I write out checks every month & pay my bills.
I have record of those transactions with my monthly bank statements & those statements have copies of my checks.
I never go to the bank. I use my home computer (with robust security) for financial transactions. I use my phone for telephone calls and texting.
In the computer biz, that's a variation on a hashing function ;-)
For myself, I write my PINs on my credit and debit cards in binary with a bit shift and padded on the ends with my own binary bit sequence. Told a couple of CS PHDs that they could have everything in the account if they could figure it out in the number of tries allowed before the card locked itself out. Mathematically it was highly improbable. It keeps me fresh in converting binary to numbers. And no, I don't tell them if it is in octal or hex! Had to get the PINs reset after they took their tries and missed ;-)
Sounds like you know how to have fun, but... lol it would really suck to have your cards locked! :)
..and that is?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.