FBI Warning: Schemes to Break into your Phone – then your Bank Account – on the Rise
Scammers are working particularly hard to hijack your mobile phone and gain access to money accounts lately, according to the FBI.
In a PSA, the FBI said the number of “SIM swapping” complaints jumped to a whopping 1,611 in 2021, alone, compared to 320 – during the entire three-year period, from January 2018 and December 2020.
And losses skyrocketed to $68 million in 2021, compared to $12 million over that same three-year period.
When a swap occurs, criminals trick the wireless carrier into switching the SIM—a computer chip inside a mobile phone which contains an ID number unique to the phone’s subscriber—to the criminal’s SIM.
Attackers then perform password resets for the user’s mobile phone account. That allows them to reset the victim’s account log-in credentials and use those credentials to access the victim’s account without authorization.
To avoid this, the FBI suggests:
Do not advertise information about your financial assets on social media, websites or forums.
Do not provide your mobile number account information over the phone, to representatives who request your account password or pin.
Do use a variation of unique passwords to access your online accounts.
Do use strong multi-factor authentication methods to access online accounts.
Learn more, here: (Yahoo)
- The FBI warns there’s been a serious increase of scammers breaking into phones to nab money from people’s bank accounts
- They say you can protect yourself by not posting about your financial assets anywhere online, and using varied passwords to access your online accounts, among other things
