Mailbox, bank account and now SIM card. Each of your personal belongings can be the target of a scam, according to the new technique of criminals, which has already done damage. This “SIM-swapping” scam can cost you thousands of dollars without you realizing it. It must be said that it is particularly well tied.
From Le Parisien, a man explains that he received a 416-page invoice for his telephone plan, according to which he would have sent 25,000 SMS to Belgium, each of them being charged 7 euro cents. The calculation is quickly made: he owes 1,769 euros to his operator, while he usually pays 17 euros for his telephone plan. A recipient error? A bad joke? Neither of the two, this man was actually the victim of a hacking of his telephone line.
Barely a scam is updated that a new tip the tip of his nose. Asked by the daily, Bogdan Boteezatu – director of threat research at Bitdefender – explains: “Hackers are attacking with increasingly sophisticated methods the telephone number which, with the importance of smartphones in our lives, has become a more upmarket and lucrative target than a computer”. With your phone number, the scammer can also change your passwords, contact your relatives or even steal your identity. Unlimited resources, in a way…
Think it can’t happen to you? Think again because, according to Le Parisien, this practice is developing very quickly in France and a simple SMS can make you fall for it… Here’s how to thwart the scam.
To retrieve your personal data, scammers may lure you to a site that is an exact replica of your carrier’s site. The victim interviewed by Le Parisien, for example, received an SMS announcing to him that an “eSIM card has been ordered on your line, if it is not a question of meeting you quickly…” and signed by Red by SFR. Thinking of avoiding a hacking of his line, the man clicked on the link and filled in his personal data, while it was by doing so that he fell into the trap. For a month, he could not make a call or send an SMS, before his situation was regularized. What should you do if you receive a similar message?
If you receive a supposedly signed SMS from your operator informing you of a command that tells you nothing, do not click on the link offered to you. Go directly to the usual site and contact customer service: an advisor can, at that time, tell you whether or not an order has been made in your name.
If this is not the case, you have been the victim of a scam attempt: do nothing, above all do not click on the link and report the number on the 33700 platform. Check your next bill carefully. , looking for calls or messages abroad.