{"id":679219,"date":"2025-07-09T15:05:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-protect-your-cell-phone-number-from-sim-swap-attacks\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:05:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:05:14","slug":"how-to-protect-your-cell-phone-number-from-sim-swap-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-protect-your-cell-phone-number-from-sim-swap-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"How to protect your cell phone number from SIM swap attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23267d5d21c\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23267d5d21c\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-protect-your-cell-phone-number-from-sim-swap-attacks\/#AT_T\" >AT&amp;T<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-protect-your-cell-phone-number-from-sim-swap-attacks\/#T-Mobile\" >T-Mobile<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-to-protect-your-cell-phone-number-from-sim-swap-attacks\/#Verizon\" >Verizon<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s 2025, and cell phone numbers are ubiquitous. We use our phone numbers to sign up for websites and online services, from retail and banking to <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> and health providers. You can use your phone number to reset a forgotten password, and even for receiving two-factor authentication codes for securely logging in to your accounts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But if someone can steal your phone number, they can effectively become you.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With your phone number, a hacker can start gaining access to your online accounts, and even trick automated systems into thinking they are you when calling customer service. A hijacked phone number can sometimes be used to access a company\u2019s network as if they were that employee, allowing access to sensitive files and data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is all the more reason to proactively protect your phone number from SIM sw<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ing, a type of cyberattack that involves a hacker hijacking a victim\u2019s phone number. The good <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> is that it\u2019s easier than it\u2019s ever been to lock down your number.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SIM swapping attacks usually happen when a malicious hacker calls up a cell carrier impersonating a specific customer. This hacker would use information they found online, such as a customer\u2019s name and date of birth, and then ask a customer support representative to transfer or \u201cport out\u201d that number to a different SIM card or carrier. As soon as that process completes, the person\u2019s phone number will activate on a SIM card or phone controlled by the hacker, allowing them to make calls and send and receive text messages as if they were the person they just hacked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oftentimes, the only sign that this has happened is if the victim suddenly loses cell service for seemingly no reason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SIM swap attacks exploit a weakness in the security controls within a cell providers\u2019 internal systems that let support representatives make changes to customer accounts without necessarily getting the customer\u2019s express permission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To combat these kinds of impersonation and deception tactics, known as social engineering attacks, three major phone carriers in the United States \u2014 AT&amp;T, T-Mobile and Verizon \u2014 have introduced security features that make it more difficult for malicious hackers to deceptively get a customer\u2019s account changed, such as porting out their phone number.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take a minute or two to check your phone carrier\u2019s account; these features are often not publicized very well and may not be enabled by default.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-at-amp-t\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"AT_T\"><\/span><strong>AT&amp;T<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In July, AT&amp;T <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/about.att.com\/story\/2025\/wireless-account-lock.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">introduced its free Wireless Account Lock security feature<\/a> to help prevent SIM swaps. The feature allows AT&amp;T customers to add extra account protection by toggling on a setting that prevents anyone from moving a SIM card or phone number to another device or account. The feature can be switched on via AT&amp;T\u2019s app or through its online account portal by anyone who manages the account, so make sure that account is protected with a unique password and multi-factor authentication.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-t-mobile\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"T-Mobile\"><\/span><strong>T-Mobile<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">T-Mobile allows customers to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.t-mobile.com\/support\/plans-features\/help-with-t-mobile-account-fraud#SIM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">prevent SIM swaps<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.t-mobile.com\/support\/plans-features\/help-with-t-mobile-account-fraud#account\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">block unauthorized number port outs<\/a> for free through their T-Mobile online account. The primary account holder will have to log in to change to the setting, such as switching it on or off.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-verizon\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Verizon\"><\/span><strong>Verizon<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Verizon has two security features called <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.verizon.com\/support\/knowledge-base-309294\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SIM Protection and Number Lock<\/a>, which respectively prevent SIM swaps and phone number transfers. Both of these features can be turned on via the Verizon app and through the online account portal by an account\u2019s owner or manager. Verizon says that switching off the feature may result in a 15-minute delay before any transactions can be performed \u2014 another safeguard to allow the legitimate account holder to reverse any account changes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2025\/07\/09\/how-to-protect-your-cell-phone-number-from-sim-swap-attacks\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s 2025, and cell phone numbers are ubiquitous. We use our phone numbers to sign up for websites and online services, from retail and banking to social media and health providers. You can use your phone number to reset a forgotten password, and even for receiving two-factor authentication codes for securely logging in to your&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":679220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/sim-card-swap-fraud-2181568576.jpg?resize=1200,800","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[39382,5039,70375,5030,73241,72287,77387,73394],"class_list":["post-679219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-android","tag-att","tag-cybersecurity","tag-iphone","tag-multi-factor-authentication","tag-security","tag-t-mobile","tag-verizon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}