Sim swap fraud: How to know if you are a victim and how to prevent it?

SIM Swap is also referred by other terms like sim hijacking and SIM splitting. This happens when scammers or fraudsters find loopholes in the two-factor authentication and verification in which the user gets a message with an OTP (One Time Password) on his mobile number. Read on to know more about SIM swap fraud.

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SIM Swap Fraud: Pune CA Loses 2.2 Lakhs

A Chartered Accountant from Pune got scammed and lost Rs 2.2 lakhs due to a SIM swap fraud. The fraudsters had contacted her in May by telling her that her SIM is a 3G SIM and that it's necessary to upgrade to a 4G SIM. These fraudsters then went on and cloned her sim, got everything out of the bank account that was linked with that phone number, and transferred it to their account. When she received the call about this 4G SIM upgrade, they sent her a 20 digit number upon clicking which her SIM card got deactivated. It was after this deactivation that the fraudsters did the cloning and money transfer.

Some of the indications that a person might be a victim to SIM swapping are mentioned below: 

• Unable to call or text is an obvious sign when a person is unable to make calls or message someone. Most likely it means that the fraudsters might have deactivated the SIM card.
• Accessing accounts won't be possible like the bank accounts in which case contacting the bank should be the first priority.
• Getting notifications of your SIM card being activated somewhere else.

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What is SIM Swap: Sim Swap Meaning and How it Works

These scammers call mobile companies by impersonating someone else and use various ways to assure them that something is wrong with their SIM card. After which they ask the customer service to activate a new SIM card. The next step is to call the person they are impersonating and assure them the same thing to gain access to that SIM card and deactivate it. 

Once these fraudsters have access to the cellphone number of someone, they also gain access to the phone contacts, bank details, and everything else possible. All they need to do next is reset the password for each one of them and now full access to everything that a person owns is within their hands.

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Some ways to protect yourself from SIM card fraud:

• Keep a tab on where you are entering your email details and personal details as these might be phishing attempts which will help these scammers to convince your bank or cell phone company that they are actually you.
• Use authentication apps such as Google Authenticator which sends code for two-factor authentication to that app instead of your mobile phone. Also, make use of strong passwords and strong questions.
• There are ways to use PIN codes as an added protection to your communications if your phone carrier allows it.

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