Today’s Scam of the day is yet another warning about the latest major data breach.  This probably should not be surprising at this point because last year, there were more than 1,800 reported data breaches and probably many more that were not reported affecting 422 million people.  The question is not if you will become a victim of a data breach.  The question is when.

This time the data breach victim is Mint Mobile a mobile virtual network operator owned by T-Mobile which offers low-cost mobile service plans. Five days ago Mint Mobile started notifying its customers by email about the data breach.  Amon the information compromised was customers’ names, telephone numbers, email addresses, SIM serial numbers and IMEI numbers (a number that identifies a particular device).  While all of this information can be leveraged for purposes of identity theft, the compromised SIM serial numbers are particularly troubling because this information can be used for SIM swapping.   A Subscriber Identity Module, more commonly known as a SIM card, is an integrated circuit that stores information used to authenticate subscribers on mobile devices, such as a cell phone.  The SIM card is able to be transferred between different devices, and often is, when people update into a newer cell phone.  SIM Swapping is the name for the crime where someone convinces your phone carrier to transfer your SIM card to a phone controlled by the criminal.

As more and more financial transactions, such as online banking, are now done through cell phones, identity thieves with access to their victims’ SIM cards are increasingly becoming able to intercept security codes sent by text messages for online banking as part of dual factor authentication and thereby providing the identity thief with the opportunity to empty their victims’ bank accounts and cause other financial havoc.

TIPS

If you have not already done so, set up dual factor authentication for each of you accounts where it is available. This will protect you from having those accounts stolen by someone who may have access to your password.  In regard to protecting yourself from SIM swapping, Mint Mobile customers who don’t have one should get a PIN to be used when your SIM card is to be transferred such as when you get a new phone.  This is important to do for everyone with their cell phone service carrier.

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