SIM Swapping is a form of fraud and identity theft in which a criminal manages to take control of your mobile phone number.
How SIM swapping works
Collecting personal information
Attackers do not act randomly. They start with a thorough investigation of the victim in order to gather as much personal information as possible, using a variety of methods:
Phishing is the first tactic used, in order to get you to enter personal data (such as your full name, date of birth, address or answers to security questions).
Social engineering is another commonly used method. Attackers contact you directly, pretending to be a representative of your bank, a utility company or even your telephone operator. Through seemingly innocent conversations, they extract crucial information about you.
Previous data breaches offer attackers a goldmine. Your personal data that has been compromised in previous security incidents is often sold on online black markets.
Contact your phone operator
Once they have enough information, the attackers contact your mobile operator. Pretending to be you, they claim that they have lost their phone or that the SIM is faulty and ask to transfer the phone number to a new SIM card they already have.
Verification process tricked
Criminals use previously collected information to answer security questions posed by the phone operator. Unfortunately, many companies rely on relatively simple security questions that can be bypassed with information found online.
Number transfer and the consequences of SIM swapping
If the attacker succeeds in convincing the operator, your phone number is ported to the offender’s SIM card and your original SIM becomes inactive. At this point, you lose the signal to your phone and the attacker gains total control over the number.
Major risks of SIM swapping
- Devastating financial losses: The most direct and severe risk in case of SIM swapping is the theft of money from bank accounts, investment accounts or cryptocurrency wallets. Attackers can transfer funds, make online purchases or access your investments in just minutes.
- Full identity theft: Criminals can access your emails and social networks, using them to steal your full identity. They can send messages in your name, demand money from your contacts or commit other fraud using your identity.
- Losing control of accounts: You can lose control of your online accounts by being banned from them. Recovering these accounts can be a long and complicated process, especially if the attacker has changed passwords and recovery information.
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