Protecting Against SIM Swap Fraud using e-SIM
The phone numbers we have are the unique attribute that defines us and help us connect or register to online services and do our daily work. If you think that your phone number uniquely represents you, hold one and think again. Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swaps and cloning have become a grave concern for the telecom industry and individuals. Therefore, many telecom companies have planned to switch to eSIMs to reduce the problem. According to the Transparency Market Research report, the global eSIM card market will grow at a CAGR of 13.5 percent from 2017 to 2025. This article will give a quick walkthrough of SIM swaps fraud and how to protect against such fraud.
What are SIM swaps?
SIM swap or SIM swapping is a fraudulent technique of stealing your phone number. Often cybercriminals trick your cell phone providers and transfer the phone number to their SIM cards without your authorization. This process is called SIM swap. Fraudsters and cybercriminals do such activities by researching whether your SIM card has any link with your bank account, email account, social media account, or any other online services. After getting your number into their SIM card, they will use it to log into these accounts and can get two-factor authentication (2FA) code through that swapped SIM. According to Tru.ID’s statistical report, in 2020, with the help of SIM Swap, criminals stole more than 100 million USD in the USA, and such incidents have been increasing incredibly over the past few years.
How do fraudsters carry out the SIM swapping?
The entire SIM Swap process starts with a person impersonating you. They contact the target victim’s mobile number carrier and claim for a new SIM card and activate it with the old number of the target user. Usually, such fraudsters claim that they have lost their original SIM & the phone or got destroyed due to some reasons. In such a situation, the mobile carrier or service provider will request the criminal to provide identity verification such as security questions, last four digits of personal identity, account PIN, etc., to verify that person. The fraudster does information gathering or social engineering and creates some or all of such duplicate identities through identity theft.
As soon as the cybercriminal convinces the SIM service provider’s customer service representative that they are legit, they get the target victim’s phone number reassigned as a new SIM card. This way, the fraudster has essentially disconnected the phone number of the target victim and assigned themselves as the owner of that number. Now, the fraudster can bypass all Two-factor Authentication (2FA) or gain access to social media accounts and even change the target user’s password for any online services.
What are the signs through which we can recognize SIM Swap fraud?
Some common warning signs and behavior through which you can recognize a SIM Swap fraud happened with a number are:
You will not be able to contact anyone even though others with the same mobile carrier or service provider can reach everyone.
You are getting logged out automatically from various online accounts & services that have your phone number linked.
You might receive SMS from the mobile carrier or SIM service providers on re-registrations that you haven’t claimed.
How can eSIMs potentially help prevent SIM swaps?
ESIMs can play a critical role in securing mobile numbers from SIM Swap attacks. ESIMs are chips attached to smartphones and enable you to connect to the network carrier without inserting a physical SIM card into your smartphone. Usually, to enable any network into your phone through your eSIM, you have to register yourself with your details and Personal Identifiable Information (PII). You can also set biometric authentication like face ID or fingerprints to enable multiple layers of security to your eSIM account.
Because there is no physical SIM card in an eSIM system, no one can fraudulently claim that their SIM card got lost or damaged. Also, all the identity details reside in the owner’s phone. So, no other cybercriminal can scam for another SIM card or re-registering the number on behalf of their name. To know more about how eSIM can protect SIM swaps, tap to PacketLabs.
Best practices to protect against SIM swaps
Various other ways to prevent SIM swap attacks are:
· Reduce the sharing of personal information with various online services.
· Do not fall for phishing emails.
· Do not use SMSs as a Two-factor authentication mechanism for different online services.
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