Security News > 2022 > February > FBI: Criminals escalating SIM swap attacks to steal millions of dollars
FBI: Criminals escalating SIM swap attacks to steal millions of dollars.
The FBI says criminals have escalated SIM card swap attacks to hijack victims' phone numbers and steal millions of dollars from fiat and virtual currency accounts.
The FBI reports that from January 2018 to December 2020, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center received 320 complaints related to SIM swapping scams, with the damages totaling $12 million altogether.
Social engineering involves a criminal to impersonate the victim's mobile number by tricking the cell phone carrier into switching the victim's mobile number to a SIM card that is in the criminal's possession, allowing the malicious party to access the victim's calls, texts and other data, but this is only one of the three methods used to steal funds from victims.
If users believe they have been a victim of SIM swapping, the FBI encourages mobile users to first contact their mobile carriers immediately to regain control of their phone number, then accessing their online accounts to change their passwords that protect their sensitive data.
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