THE FBI has issued a warning for Android and iPhone users as SIM swapping attacks surge, according to a new report.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday said in an announcement that bad actors are escalating SIM swapping attacks in an attempt to steal millions of dollars.
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“The Federal Bureau of Investigation is issuing this announcement to inform mobile carriers and the public of the increasing use of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swapping by criminals to steal money from fiat and virtual currency accounts,” the FBI wrote.
A SIM swapping attack happens when a threat actor gets ahold of your mobile phone account information and then successfully transfers it onto their phone.
The bad actor can then get access to your phone’s data and important accounts, including cryptocurrency wallets and bank information.
Hackers can carry out a SIM swap attack in two different ways: (1) physically getting ahold of your phone’s SIM card; (2) calling up your phone carrier, or going to a physical location of your phone carrier and posing as you.
Complaints filed with the FBI indicate that the identity theft scam has increased nearly fivefold since 2018, according to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
“From January 2018 to December 2020, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 320 complaints related to SIM swapping incidents with adjusted losses of approximately $12 million. In 2021, IC3 received 1,611 SIM swapping complaints with adjusted losses of more than $68 million,” the report specified.
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How to protect yourself
The FBI recommended a few tips in their announcement on how smartphone users can take precautions.
For starters, you should neither share personal information nor advertise your financial assets on social media or forums.
You also should not provide your phone number account information over the phone to anyone who requests your account password or pin.
The FBI also highly suggested mobile carriers use different unique passwords to access online accounts, as well as use multi-factor authentication.
Lastly, the agency implored mobile phone owners to be diligent of any changes in SMS-based connectivity.
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