fbpx
Business

OPP warn customers of fraudsters using SIM swapping

Fraudsters can impersonate you and tell service providers their phone is lost or stolen

Sim Card Header

The Ontario Provincial Police has sent a warning related to phone number porting, the CBC reported.

Ontario’s Serious Fraud Office and the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre have partnered with the OPP to make people aware of this type of fraud.

“Fraudsters may empty your bank accounts, apply for credit in your good name, or impersonate you to defraud your entire contact list. In the meantime, you lose access to your mobile service, are typically locked out of all your accounts, and are left scrambling,” the OPP said.

The fraudster pretends to be someone else and calls a service provider indicating they have either lost their phone or that their phone has been stolen. The fraudster then links a new number to a new SIM card and device that they are then able to control.

They then download apps and select “forgot password” in order to receive a verification code on the new phone and gain access to various accounts.

The OPP provides various tips that a user can use to prevent this from happening, including keeping personal information personal, not publishing your birthdate on social media, not answering the phishing emails that require you to confirm a password, using an offline password manager, contacting a phone provider to ask about additional security measures, and if you lose your phone, contacting your service provider immediately.

Source: CBC

Related Articles

Comments