SIM swap fraud is a malpractice where the perpetrators falsely acquire a SIM card on your name, issued along with your mobile number. The primary purpose behind this fraud would be to have access to security alarms such as One Time Passwords (OTP) which you receive on your registered phone number to proceed with almost all types of financial transactions on the internet.
How does this scam work?
SIM swap is a second stage of an entire scam intended by an attacker. The first phase consists of gathering personal information about the targeted victim.
The phishing attack would be to gather personal and banking information about the victim. This may include name, address, date of birth, telephone number, driving license number, net banking ID and password, ATM PIN, CVV number, etc.. This attack could be launched from the following manners:
Phishing email -- attacker sends a fake email to the sufferer containing a form or a link to a spoofed site to capture private details.
When the attacker gets the all essential user information, they approach the victim's mobile service provider using forged identity documents. They receive a new SIM card by reporting a reduction of cellular device or a damaged SIM card. This way, the contact number of this real client gets deactivated. Together with the stolen banking data, the attacker may then readily run illegal financial transactions, now that they have access to the OTP.
1. The most significant measure is to ensure your phone's connection is functioning normally. If your SIM gets deactivated without any known reason, then examine it to your mobile operator immediately.
2. Never give away personal or financial advice over emails, phones, SMSs, online chat platforms like WhatsApp, or some other media for that matter.
3. Switching your phone off for a long period of time for reasons like unwanted calls or SMSs could be harmful. These calls could be a ploy of the attacker to fool you into turning off your phone, so you stay oblivious of any connectivity problems.
4. If your lender offers SMS and email alerts for all your banking activities, then opt for both the options.
5. Check your bank statements regularly to ensure that there are no irregularities.
6. Most sites request your phone number among other information to let you use their services. In these situations, avoid giving your actual name, actual date of arrival, and your telephone number that's registered with your lender.
7. Avoid making your phone number people on social networking sites.
8. As phishing is used as the main weapon in this type of scams, think about having anti-phishing and anti-malware protection on your PC and smartphone.
It may be safely presumed that episodes of SIM swap frauds will increase with time and may become more sophisticated. Your security depends on how vigilant and updated you are about the growing dangers in the realm of Internet. Frauds are pretty common but damages can be in millions if you're not careful just like a texas company got scammed for millions by UAE's Rashed Al Suwaidi and Hussan of Horizon Energy.
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