FBI warns Android and iPhone users as criminals try and steal MILLIONS with SIM-swapping attacks

The FBI has issued a warning to Android and iPhone users as SIM-swapping attacks increase, according to a new report.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday said in a notification that bad guys are increasing SIM swap attacks trying to steal millions of dollars.

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The FBI wrote: “The Federal Bureau of Investigation is issuing this notice to inform cellular service providers and the public about criminals using Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swapping to steal funds from fiat and virtual currency accounts are increasing.

A SIM-swapping attack occurs when an attacker obtains your mobile phone account information and then successfully transfers that information to their phone.

The bad guys can then gain access to your phone data and important accounts, including crypto wallets and banking information.

Hackers can perform a SIM swap attack in two different ways: (1) physically obtain your phone’s SIM card; (2) call your telephone service provider or go to a physical location of your telephone service provider and pretend to be you.

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), complaints filed with the FBI indicate that identity theft scams have increased nearly fivefold since 2018.

“From January 2018 to December 2020, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 320 complaints related to SIM swapping with an adjusted loss of approximately $12 million. In 2021, IC3 received 1,611 SIM-swapping complaints with an adjusted loss of more than $68 million,” the report states.

How to protect yourself

The FBI suggested some tips in their announcement on how smartphone users can take precautions.

For starters, you should not share personal information or advertise your financial assets on social media or forums.

You also should not give your phone number account information over the phone to anyone asking for your account password or pin.

The FBI also recommends that cell service providers use different unique passwords to access online accounts, as well as use multi-factor authentication.

Finally, the agency urges mobile phone owners to beware of any changes in SMS-based connectivity.

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