{"id":1203,"date":"2022-01-27T21:54:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T04:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/?p=1203"},"modified":"2022-01-27T22:16:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T05:16:24","slug":"sim-card-swapping-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/2022\/01\/27\/sim-card-swapping-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"SIM-Card Swapping scam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the advent of technology, smartphones have changed the way we think, work, and socialize. They have started to provide numerous advantages, including accessibility and easier communication. People started saving all their personal information and some of their passwords in some security apps on their phones. In addition, many individuals rely on their phones for banking, shopping, etc.. . Consequently, phones have become such an important part of our daily lives. We can say that \u201cMost people can\u2019t live without their phones nowadays.<\/em> \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/flyingcork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Mobile-Usability.jpg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How Does SIM Swapping Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SIM-Card swapping is one of the easiest scams that hackers can use to deceive the phone holder. A recent article [3<\/a>] published on 22nd of January 2022 stated that the hacker may have multiple ways, but the most common way is that the hacker may have a direct call\u2013 just talking to a person. They may start talking with the victim and acquire the knowledge they need from them through some indirect questions. They may be able to collect some personal information about an individual; for example, getting a person\u2019s birthdate, full name, or address from his public social media accounts. Then, the hacker will call the victim\u2019s phone company in an attempt to impersonate them and answer some security questions gathered from social media. If they succeeded, they will be able to declare that the victim\u2019s phone has been lost.[2<\/a>] Consequently, the victim will realize that they have lost the mobile device services as it have been linked to a new SIM card and controlled by the hacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/cdn.abcotvs.com\/dip\/images\/7145229_101820-wls-sim-swap-img.jpg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In August 2019, hackers took over the Twitter account of Twitter\u2019s chief executive, Jack Dorsey, and used the account to post a lot of racist messages and bomb threats. Twitter declared <\/a>that the account had been compromised. Although Mr. Dorsey\u2019s account was only compromised for a few minutes, it was enough for the hackers to post some offensive tweets. In testimony before a Senate committee held in September 2019, Mr. Dorsey said that he used two-factor authentication to secure his account, so the hackers had been able to trick phone company employees into transferring Mr. Dorsey\u2019s phone number to a new SIM card and using his phone number to access some of the platform accounts associated to the number.[4<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/twitter.com\/TwitterComms\/status\/1167591003143847936<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Signs that you are a victim?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Sudden loss of cellular phone services<\/strong>, including the inability to make phone calls or send text messages, that happens because the hacker must transfer the cellular service to another SIM card and phone to take over a person\u2019s account. As a result, the victim\u2019s phone is left out of service<\/em>.[2<\/a>] <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022Another approach to find out is if you notice any changes on your social media accounts that you use<\/strong>. If you observe transactions or posts that you didn\u2019t make, someone else is using your account.<\/em>[3<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preventing SIM Swapping<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Begin by trying to change all the mobile apps and social media accounts associated with that number or by contacting your mobile service provider. You can inquire about their security measures against SIM swapping and the types of information they want before moving your phone number to a new SIM card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would agree that it\u2019s usually a good idea to keep your internet accounts as private as possible. It’s unsafe to post a lot of your personal information on public platforms. Furthermore, you can\u2019t trust any social networking platform to keep your information safe. In addition, I would much rather avoid revealing too much of my personal information to the majority of individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Always consider that no matter how we try to make our accounts secure and how many passwords we add to our online accounts, it\u2019s still possible for a hacker to find a way to gain access. We can take some preciousness. For example, by setting a different passcode for each of your account, enabling two-factor authentication  on every account that offers it, making sure you\u2019re not falling for scam text messages, and finally knowing what to do if you find yourself a victim of SIM swapping, you\u2019re probably safe!<\/em>[1<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/06042142\/sim_card_protection.png<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

References:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

[1]https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/mobile\/t-mobile-data-breach-and-sim-swap-scam-how-to-protect-your-identity\/ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]https:\/\/www.priv.gc.ca\/en\/blog\/20200312\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]https:\/\/www.idropnews.com\/news\/sim-swapping-explained-whats-sim-swapping-and-why-is-it-so-dangerous\/176490\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/08\/30\/technology\/jack-dorsey-twitter-account-hacked.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the advent of technology, smartphones have changed the way we think, work, and socialize. They have started to provide numerous advantages, including accessibility and easier communication. People started saving all their personal information and some of their passwords in some security apps on their phones. In addition, many individuals rely on their phones for … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “SIM-Card Swapping scam”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cpsc-329-602-w22","entry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Hala Mesallam","author_link":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/author\/hala-mesallam\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1203"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1218,"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1203\/revisions\/1218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/isec-601-f21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}