No mobile signal? You have 2 hours to stop SIM fraud
ASUDDEN loss of mobile signal that renders a smartphone unusable may seem an unexceptional occurrence. But phone users should be wary as it can be a sign of impending fraud – indicating they may be about to have their bank account plundered.
Fraud experts say there is a window of a couple of hours for victims to take action to be certain of preventing financial losses.
Known as ‘SIM-swap fraud’, this elaborate scam exploits security weaknesses in mobile phone networks and banks.
It is centred around the six-digit code customers are sent by their bank via text authorising a payment to be made from their account. Fraudsters set out to fool a network provider into transferring their victim’s mobile phone number on to a SIM card they
possess. They can then masquerade as the genuine customer, intercept any payment code and authorise fraudulent payment transfers. The fraudsters have to work hard for their spoils – first stealing information found online or bought on the Dark Web such as a username and password and mobile number. The trickster can use this to impersonate them online, over the phone or in person at a mobile store. Hundreds of cases a year are reported to national fraud reporting organisation Action Fraud. But because most people keep quiet about their experiences the scale of the problem is not known.
Estimates suggest the cost to victims in the UK is at least £1million a year, with an average individual loss of £4,000. Law enforcement agencies are stepping up efforts to alert people about the practice.
Police Scotland recently issued a warning about SIM-swap fraud on Facebook after a resident in the Angus area of eastern Scotland lost a four-figure sum.
In another case, John, from Cambridge, was lucky to have acted swiftly to thwart a SIM-swap scam – where a fraudster almost succeeded in stealing thousands of pounds from his account. He was having intermittent trouble with his phone signal so was pleased to discuss the problem when receiving a call he thought was from his network provider O2. John says: ‘He was convincing and said he would trigger a text with some numbers which I needed to relay to him.
‘I got the text and in innocence read out the digits. Shortly after my phone became like a brick, it didn’t work.’ John sensed something was wrong and borrowed a relative’s phone to contact O2. The provider acknowledged a SIM-swap fraud was occurring on his account and went through the steps to reverse the transfer. But O2 warned him he needed to call his bank immediately.
As John was on hold waiting to speak to someone at NatWest he logged into his bank account and watched with alarm as £2,600 was removed.
John says: ‘Part of the difficulty is that when you are on the phone and are sent a one-time passcode, the digits come up on screen in the form of a notification.
‘But you cannot see the warning message about not sharing the code until you open the text fully, by which time it is too late. Also, if you do not realise fraud is happening and do not call the bank promptly you might not get your money back.’
NatWest says: ‘We are working closely with telecoms providers to tackle the issue of SIM swapping and we have robust security systems in place to detect fraud.’ O2 says: ‘We take fraud and customer security extremely seriously. Indeed, we were the first network to lead trials with the banks to identify and block fake banking messages.’ The network also says it sends a warning message to the original SIM before allowing the transfer of a mobile number – as a way to flag up this sort of scam.
If a victim has fallen foul of SIM swap fraud, there is no guarantee their bank will refund the money unless alerted quickly.
UK Finance says: ‘Be wary of unsolicited calls, texts or emails asking for personal or financial information – and never reveal your full login details either by email or phone.’
For more information on how to stay safe from fraud visit website takefive-stopfraud.org.uk.