Woman Warns SIM Swap Scams Can Drain Your Bank Account in Minutes
Cuba Headlines — A South Florida resident recently fell victim to a “SIM swap” scam, where fraudsters stole over $17,000 from her in less than a day. They also attempted to steal another $50,000 from her husband's investment account. She shared her experience with Telemundo 51, recounting how the fraud began when her cell phone signal mysteriously vanished.
“It can be as simple as calling, pretending to be you, knowing certain things about you, and claiming you have a new phone. So, they shut down this old purple phone and transfer everything to the one in their hand.... Then they can reset your login credentials using two-factor authentication codes sent to the phone line.”
The woman received alerts from her banking that indicated that her password had been changed on a new device. It only took the criminals 24 hours to make nearly $20,000 in charges. When she contacted her mobile phone provider, she discovered that she was no longer listed on the account and the lines had been moved to another device.