AT&T is launching a protection that prevents unauthorized mobile account changes because expensive forms of account hijacking occur when the carrier tries to exchange SIM cards that belong to the account holder.
The technology, known as SIM card switching or port fraud, has plagued wireless operators and their millions of subscribers for years. A single SIM exchange program received a net $400 million in cryptocurrency, a federal prosecutor filed last year. The stolen funds belong to dozens of victims who use their mobile phones for two-factor authentication to encrypt their wallets.
Wireless Account Lock debuts
A separate scam starting in 2022 has given unauthorized access to the T-Mobile management platform, which is subscribed to a mobile virtual network operator called a service to its customers. Threatening actors to use the SIM exchange of T-Mobile employee, gain access to another T-Mobile employee’s phishing attack and compromises from at least one unknown source.
Such attacks have been around for more than a decade and have increased the prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in an unreasonable boom, which has become increasingly common. In some cases, the scammers impersonate an existing account holder who wants a new phone number. At other times, they simply bribe the carrier’s employees to make unauthorized changes.
