SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – It’s called the SIM swap scam, and hackers could wipe out your bank account.
The FBI issued a warning about the SIM swap scam. Those who filed complaints lost a total of nearly $70 million last year.
This is like someone stealing your phone, without physically snatching your phone. Pretend you walked into a bank and convinced the teller you were someone else. You left with someone else’s cash. That’s how this works.
Scammers research you. They use your personal info and trick your mobile carrier to give a new SIM card. Hackers change your passwords and access your accounts.
“Who are our vulnerable populations? Is it those who are not so tech-savvy?” asked Ashley Reynolds during a conversation with Shannon McMurtrey, a professor of Cyber Security at Drury University.
“It’s tempting to say that, but all of us could fall for social engineering,” he replied. “Social engineering is hacking a person. Instead of hacking a computer. It turns out hacking a person is much easier than hacking computers.”
Don’t put your phone number on social media websites.
“Think about this,” said Dr. Xiang Guo, an IT professor at Missouri State University. “I was talking to a student today. You wouldn’t want to post your address, name, cell phone number on a billboard along Highway 65. If you do that on Facebook, it’s actually worse than that.”
Tips to better protect your ID
- Use a two-factor authentication app.
- Avoid clicking on links in texts or…
