Hackers managed to steal $19,000 out of my bank account by taking over my phone number
Using my home Wi-Fi connection, I checked my email and discovered a notification that $20,000 was being transferred from my credit card to an unfamiliar Discover Bank account.
When your own phone access is lost to a criminal, the very steps you once took to protect your accounts, such as two-factor authentication, can be used against you. It doesn’t help to have a bank send a text to verify a transaction when the phone receiving the text is in the hands of the very person trying to break into your account.
Even if you’re a relatively tech-savvy individual who follows every recommendation on how to protect your tech and identity, it can still happen to you.
Experts say these scams will only increase and become more sophisticated, and the data show they are on the rise.
I am not the most tech savvy person, but I am a law-school educated journalist who specializes in finance reporting. Due to the very online nature of my job, I was taught all the methods of staying safe online: constantly changing my passwords with multi-factor authentication, signing out of apps that I don’t use regularly and keeping my personal information off the internet.
Still, despite being safe, I was vulnerable to criminals. And it took a lot of time and legwork before I got my money and phone number back.
The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center reports SIM-swapping complaints have increased more than 400% from 2018 to 2021, having received 1,611 SIM swapping complaints with personal losses of more than $68 million.
