T-Mobile confirms data breach was caused by SIM-swapping attack

Date:
Thu, 30 Dec 2021 14:04:11 +0000

Description:
Some T-Mobile users targeted by attack that saw their phone numbers assigned to a different SIM card.

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A very small group of T-Mobile customers in the United States fell victim to
a SIM-swapping attack, the telecoms operator has confirmed.

In a statement, the company said affected customers were notified of the attack, and the company acted quickly to mitigate the threat.

"We informed a very small number of customers that the SIM card assigned to a mobile number on their account may have been illegally reassigned or limited account information was viewed," T-Mobile told BleepingComputer . Big
telecoms targeted

"Unauthorized SIM swaps are unfortunately a common industry-wide occurrence, however this issue was quickly corrected by our team, using our in-place safeguards, and we proactively took additional protective measures on their behalf."

"We are not providing any additional information at this time. Thank you!,
the statement concluded.

A SIM swap attack is a fraudulent activity in which the telecommunications operator is tricked into assigning a mobile phone number to a different SIM card. Its a popular, and very dangerous attack, given that many people use
SMS for two-factor authentication .

By redirecting SMS messages to the attackers mobile device, theyre often able to log into banking services, clear out the funds, or steal their identities for other purposes.

As a major telecoms provider, T-Mobile is often the target of identity theft and similar fraudulent activities. Customers are advised to be extra careful when getting SMS messages, or emails, claiming to be from T-Mobile. Also,
they should be careful not to open any links in those messages, before confirming the authenticity of the sender.

Account takeover is such a widespread thing that T-Mobile has an entire support page devoted to it. You might also want to check out our list of the best antivirus solutions out there



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/t-mobile-confirms-data-breach-was-caused-by-sim -swapping-attack/


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