Technique

SIM Swap

Also known as: SIM Hijacking, Port-out Fraud, Port Jacking, SIM Jacking, Phone Number Hijacking

COMPROMISE

Social engineering mobile carrier to transfer victim's phone number to attacker-controlled SIM, enabling interception of SMS-based authentication codes and account takeover. Attacks may involve deceiving carrier customer service or bribing/coercing carrier employees.

Common attack flows

How it fits in a scam

This technique shows up duringCOMPROMISE

Before

After

Defense

How to defend against this

How to spot it

  • Unexpected loss of cellular service
  • Unable to make calls or send texts
  • Account recovery notifications you didn't initiate
  • Suspicious login attempts on linked accounts
  • Carrier notification of SIM change you didn't request
  • Unexpected password reset emails from accounts

Tools you can use

Further reading