Criminals will try hard to steal your phone number and your money. You need to try harder to prevent it. You need smartphone safety.
If smartphone safety and the concept of criminals trying to take over your smartphone telephone number are new to you, please make it a point to research the topic as soon as possible.
The type of crime we’re referring to is called SIM-swapping. Here’s what that means and how it works from a simple, less technical point of view.
- Every smartphone has a SIM card inside that is tied to a unique phone number.
- That means your phone’s SIM card is tied to your number.
- Most people—most of us—likely never think about or worry about our SIM cards. (That should be the case.) There’s no need to.
- However, a criminal could get their own SIM card in a new phone and, with a bit of deceit, swap your phone number onto their phone. The criminal then takes over some of your accounts unless you’ve done an excellent job protecting yourself.
So, let’s set aside the active and vital SIM card in your phone for a second and talk about something else that you’re very familiar with:
How do you use your phone number?
When it comes to smartphone safety, our phone number is everywhere.
Your smartphone number is likely tied to everything. That’s good, and that isn’t good.
It’s good because you can manage your accounts and your life with your smartphone, making life convenient and easy. You can receive text messages, one-time passcodes, and authentication codes to access nearly all your accounts.
It’s wrong (or potentially harmful) because most people have access to all their accounts (bank, retail, investments, social media) to manage their lives. If a criminal were to get a hold of your phone or take over your phone number (and you had weak security), they could break into those accounts and transfer your money to their accounts.
That’s where SIM swapping (and the problem) comes in.
Criminals could steal your phone number (from right under your nose).
As mentioned, SIM swapping is a realistic threat to anyone with a smartphone. Without getting too technical, here is how it works: w
Why? Because you don’t know how much it could hurt you dramatically, whether you are wealthy or not. Everyone is a potential target. However, you likely are more of a risk if you fit this profile:
- You have money and assets parked in different financial accounts.
- You use social media accounts.
- You haven’t taken enough steps to protect your online accounts.
- You haven’t made online security a very high priority.
Suppose someone were to steal your phone number and you were unaware of it (which is usually the case). You’d be frightened thinking about the damage they could do, especially if you hadn’t taken any steps to minimize the potential danger.
In a worst-case scenario, a criminal could gain access to your accounts, including:
- Bank accounts
- Email accounts
- Photo
- Texts (your text messages)
- Social media
- Cryptocurrency
Indeed, these aren’t simply idle potential threats: hundreds of people, including celebrities, have had their financial or social media amounts taken over, with bad results and experiences.
The bottom line?
These days, you must protect your smartphone number as much as you protect your Social Security number. – Chris Parker
One effective way to safeguard your number is to use a secret phone number for important transactions, two-factor authentication, and financial accounts. This extra layer of security makes it harder for criminals to target your primary phone number.
Take action as soon as you can.
You should do your own research on the topic to continue your learning:
- Do a Google search on SIM swapping and read articles from well-known websites, especially government agencies.
- Watch recent YouTube videos on the subject, which are less technical and easier to understand.
- Talk to family members about this topic and share your knowledge with them.
- Start soon! This new crime is spreading fast, but criminals will only have success finding targets who haven’t taken the steps to fight back.
For more insights on SIM-swapping, how to minimize its chance of happening, and how to reduce its impact on you if it does happen, follow the Easy Prey podcast and hear experts interviewed on the topic. Chris Parker, CEO of WhatIsMyIPAddress.com, hosts the podcast.
