How to protect yourself from SIM swapping scam and why is it so dangerous?

There are many ways scammers use to attack you that they can be supported with, such as malware to infiltrate your computer or phishing for information online, but there are other methods that aren’t as common as SIM swapping scam. I’ve heard about this before, but it’s just as dangerous as other hacking and scam methods. Read on to find out what this means? How do you protect yourself from this type of fraud?

What is a sim card?

The letters SIM is an abbreviation for Subscriber Identity Module and as everyone knows, it is a small chip that is put into the phone and you can switch it between more than one phone with ease. SIM cards are unique and can store very little data, the most important of which is the data that identifies your subscription to your carrier.

As long as your SIM is active, no other person or SIM can activate your phone number on their own device, so even if you change phones, your number will increase as long as you have that SIM.

SIM swapping scam or fraud

For SIM swapping scam, also known as simjacking OR SIM swapping, a scam that occurs when someone tries to take a victim’s phone number and activate it on their own phone, thus exploiting the two-step verification required by most of websites these days, and the activation message comes to your phone instead of your phone.

How SIM swapping fraud occurs

It is not necessary for the hacker to be near you, take your phone and replace the SIM, but scammers get enough information about the person in advance, and the scammer will then use this information to contact the victim’s carrier and try to convince allows them to transfer the victim’s phone number to a new SIM card you receive, or The SIM card is changed to an eSIM card, so you don’t have to receive it, but receive it via email.

How did they do it? Scammers will use different methods, they can use malware to harvest information from someone’s device or send phishing emails in which the scammers claim to be customer service and ask for the data they need.

The scammer could use a much simpler method, such as using social media platforms and secretly collecting the information they need to talk to the carrier. That’s why you shouldn’t post too much information in unofficial or unreliable conversations.

Consequences of SIM swapping fraud

This scam creates a lot of problems if someone can get your phone number this way. The scammer can not only access your social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, etc., but also your email, or even your bank accounts and other investment platforms that you use.

The scammer can then use your profile to start phishing your friends and family, make bank transfers, or even blackmail you into giving them the money they want.

How will you know if you are a victim of SIM swapping fraud?

The fastest way to find out if your SIM card has been swapped is for your device to lose network connectivity and you won’t be able to make cellular calls, send text messages, or even use data roaming.

Another way to find out is when a scammer tries to break into your accounts through a two-step verification process. Platforms like Gmail will let you know if they think someone shouldn’t have accessed your account.

Another way you can find out is when you start to see some changes to the social media platforms or other accounts you use. And if you see transactions or posts that you didn’t post, someone else may be using your account.

What do I do if I am the victim of a SIM swap?

If you notice that your SIM is starting to have problems, try turning the phone off and then opening it again and if the error persists that you are not connected to the telecom network, you should immediately contact your mobile service provider.

What can I do to prevent SIM swapping fraud?

The good thing is that you don’t have to wait to get cheated on a SIM swap before taking any action. You can start making sure you are safe from these attacks.

You can start by talking to the operator, asking what security measures it has in place against this type of fraud and what kind of information it requires before changing your phone number to a different SIM card.

It would be better to make your social media profiles more secure and private, as posting too much information is not only dangerous, but with some recent data leaks on Facebook, you cannot trust any social media platform to store your social media information. safe way. You should also avoid giving away too much information to the majority of people, both online and in real life.

You can also try opening different email accounts and using your most private email account, the one almost no one knows about, to log into your most important accounts, like your bank accounts.