{"id":3830,"date":"2022-02-23T03:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T03:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/telesignstage.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3830"},"modified":"2024-01-17T15:13:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T15:13:37","slug":"sim-swapping-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.telesign.com\/es\/blog\/sim-swapping-defense","title":{"rendered":"SIM swapping continues to rise: How to defend against it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although most consumers are aware of traditional identity theft, many are unaware of the many techniques fraudsters use to steal millions of dollars from their accounts daily. According to a recent public service announcement, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,611<\/a> SIM swapping complaints in 2021, an alarming increase from the reported 320<\/a> complaints from 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined \u2013 making SIM Swap<\/a> fraud one of the fastest-growing and most damaging types of fraud today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SIM swapping, also known as phone number cloning or phone number theft, occurs when a fraudster convinces the victim\u2019s wireless carrier to port their phone number over to a new SIM card, giving the fraudster complete access to their incoming calls and text messages<\/a>. Fraudsters convince agents at the carrier to make the \u201cswap\u201d by using information they\u2019ve gathered online, through phishing attacks, or by purchasing personal information on the dark web to impersonate the victim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since multi-factor authentication is often linked to a mobile number, once a fraudster can start receiving one-time passcodes they can drain bank, brokerage, and cryptocurrency accounts in a matter of minutes. Recent FBI stats reveal Americans lost $68M<\/a> from SIM swapping attacks in 2021 alone. With 97% of Americans<\/a> owning a cellphone today, SIM Swap losses will only continue to increase as fraudsters are aware of how lucrative SIM swapping can be.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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