T-Mobile data breach: How to prevent a SIM card swap scam - WABC-TV

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NEW YORK (WABC) -- Wireless elephantine T-Mobile announced a idiosyncratic information breach this week that exposed 37 cardinal customers' information to hackers.

It marks the eighth clip successful 5 years that leaks person occurred successful the company's security. Now immoderate customers assertion they're paying the terms and are being targeted by cybercriminals.

With truthful galore companies reporting large breaches, we should each presume our idiosyncratic info is retired there.

The FBI says these leaks person led to your telephone getting hijacked done its SIM paper - the small microchip which makes your telephone your phone. And cybercrooks are profiting, stealing a grounds $68 cardinal a twelvemonth by sneakily swapping them out.

Veronica Burgos and Ivanka Dalangin are some T-Mobile customers who had their slope accounts cleaned retired erstwhile their phones went offline.

Dalangin had $20,000 wired retired of her relationship and Burgos mislaid $60,000.

Burgos, a teacher, worked 3 jobs to prevention that money. She was connected a plane, flying location from Disney World with her son, erstwhile the fraudulent ligament transportation occurred.

Dalangin was astatine her occupation wherever she is simply a registered nurse. She says aft her telephone reconnected, she got a substance confirming a ligament transportation for $20,000 to a "Michael A."

Both women were victims of a SIM paper swap scam. That's wherever a cybercrook takes implicit your telephone aft convincing your work supplier to power the spot containing your telephone number, texts, contacts and PIN fig to a caller phone.

It allows the scammer to hijack your messages from a antithetic telephone and transportation wealth from slope accounts.

Both women had their Citibank accounts drained and accidental the slope informed them they allowed the transfers by responding to texts and calls portion their ain phones were dark.

Burgos said Citibank called and said they spoke to a Veronica who verified the transfer.

Burgos gave Citibank her boarding walk arsenic impervious she couldn't person made the transfer. And Dalangin showed an email detailing her T-Mobile interruption of service.

Each filed a constabulary report. But Dalangin's assertion was denied and the slope would not instrumentality her $20,000 adjacent though it flagged 2 different charges for fraud the aforesaid day.

One was a $2,000 complaint connected her Citi Costco Visa, it was blocked. And a $1,500 Zelle complaint was besides returned.

7 On Your Side went to bat for some customers. The slope wouldn't budge connected Dalangin's case, truthful she took some companies to court.

But conscionable a time aft we contacted Citibank - Burgos got each her stolen wealth backmost conscionable successful clip for her wedding.

Because of lawsuit privateness - Citibank couldn't archer 7 On Your Side wherefore immoderate customers are getting refunds and the others are not.

The T-Mobile CEO stated helium was "truly sorry" for the past leaks and said his institution "didn't unrecorded up to the expectations to support our customers..."

The large takeaway to forestall SIM paper swap: Use two-factor authentication that doesn't trust connected texts and look for apps that authenticate utilizing your fingerprint oregon look scan.

Also, marque definite to alteration your mobile account's PIN and passwords - usage beardown ones -- not favored names.

And look into Takeover Protection, a wage diagnostic of your cellphone.

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