COINDESK EXPLAINS: Sim Card Hacks
CoinDesk Podcast Network
CoinDesk
4.8 • 689 Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2020
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the pantheon of crypto hacks, “SIM jacking” is one of the worst. The hack, which is less a hack and more social engineering, is basically a form of identity theft, with the attacker swapping a victim's sim card remotely, usually with the help of your cell phone carrier, and then breaking into their email, crypto, bank accounts, basically all the stuff you definitely don’t want someone to break into. It's audacious but it’s also preventable with a little awareness. And the consequences can be dire, it’s also netted attackers tens of millions in loot over the past few years.
In this episode of CoinDesk Explains, CoinDesk Editors Adam B. Levine and John Biggs explain the attack, what it could mean for you, how it works, and what you can do to prevent it in a way that even your grandpa could understand.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In the pantheon of crypto hacks, sim jacking is one of the worst. The hack, which is less a hack and |
| 0:06.1 | more social engineering, is basically a form of identity theft, with the attacker swapping a victim's |
| 0:10.9 | SIM card remotely, usually with the help of your cell phone carrier, and then breaking into |
| 0:15.2 | their email, their crypto, their bank accounts, basically all the stuff that you definitely don't |
| 0:19.7 | want someone breaking into. |
| 0:24.2 | It's audacious, but it's also preventable with a little bit of awareness. |
| 0:26.2 | And the consequences can be dire. |
| 0:31.1 | It's also netted attackers tens of millions of dollars in loot over just the past few years. |
| 0:41.4 | Welcome to CoinDesk Explains, an occasional series from the Market's daily team where we break down and explore the complex world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. I'm John Biggs. |
| 0:42.3 | And I'm Adam B. Levine. In today's tightly connected world, it always sucks to lose your |
| 0:46.4 | cell phone. But when you add your money to that sentence, it's even more painful. |
| 0:51.0 | So this time we're talking about how some people have lost their phones and with |
| 0:54.4 | the help of clever social engineering millions of dollars along with it. So John, you've |
| 0:59.3 | experienced this firsthand, right? Absolutely. So back in 2017, some |
| 1:03.8 | swap their SIM card with mine. I guess they did it by calling T-Mobile and pretending to be |
| 1:08.7 | me. They were like, hello, this is John Biggs. I upgraded my phone or something and need you to transfer service to my new phone. |
| 1:14.9 | And this clearly was not me calling, but T-Mobile must have believed them and made it happen. |
| 1:19.5 | And now, a dramatic reenactment featuring John Biggs as the phone company rep and Adam B. Levine |
| 1:23.9 | is the fake John Biggs. |
| 1:26.4 | Thanks for calling your phone company. How can I help you today? |
| 1:29.7 | Hi, yeah. I'm John Biggs and I need you to activate my new SIM card. |
| 1:33.5 | Happy to help. Can you verify your account with your Social Security number, your blood type, and your shoe size? |
... |
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