CRITICAL phishing
Is “SIM swap fraud” a scam?
Yes — this is a known, dangerous scam.
A criminal impersonates you to your mobile carrier, convincing them to transfer your phone number to a SIM or carrier they control. With your number, they intercept SMS authentication codes to take over bank, email, and financial accounts.
How to tell
- ⚠ Your phone suddenly loses all service — calls, texts, and data — for no apparent reason
- ⚠ You stop receiving calls or texts unexpectedly
- ⚠ Your carrier sends a notification about a SIM change or port-out you did not request
- ⚠ Bank, email, or social media accounts send unexpected password-reset notifications
What to do right now
- 1 Contact your mobile carrier immediately if your phone loses service without explanation
- 2 Set a unique PIN or passphrase on your carrier account to block unauthorized SIM changes — do this proactively before an attack occurs
- 3 Switch from SMS-based two-factor authentication to an authenticator app (such as Google Authenticator or Authy) for all important accounts
- 4 Contact your bank immediately if you suspect account access has been compromised
- 5 Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.
Full guidance, red flags, variants & official sources
Scammer hijacks your phone number to bypass two-factor authentication →