FCC wants carriers to get tough on SIM Hijacking and Port-Out Fraud
SIM hijacking and Port-out fraud can empty your bank account
In a press release, the regulatory agency announced that “The FCC has received numerous complaints from consumers who have suffered significant distress, inconvenience, and financial harm as a result of SIM swapping and port-out fraud.In addition, recent data breaches have exposed customer information that could potentially make it easier to pull off these kinds of attacks.”
FCC wants the carriers to confirm customers’ identity before making changes to their accounts
In a tweet, the FCC wrote that it had “approved a proposal aimed at combating SIM swapping scams and port-out fraud, which bad actors use to steal consumers’ cell phone accounts without ever gaining physical control of a consumer’s phone.” Under the proposals, the FCC wants the carriers to use secure methods to confirm a customer’s identity before porting out his/her phone number to a new device or carrier.
The FCC also suggests that you call your carrier and have a password or PIN number added to your account to verify your identity. The Port-Out fraud requires the bad actor to convince the carrier that he is you, so do not give away any personal information to anyone who calls and texts you requesting this data. The FCC says that you should be especially careful giving away “the last four digits of your Social Security number, your phone number, your date of birth, the make and model of your car, your pet’s name, or your mother’s maiden name.”
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