On August 1, the Toronto Police Department announced that it had arrested 10 people for 108 cases of “SIM swap fraud” (the total amount of damage was over C$1 million).
SIM swap fraud” is a scheme in which criminals impersonate the victim in the following ways: (1) to (3), reissue a SIM card that the victim is currently subscribed to, and then defraud the victim by sending money through online banking in the victim’s name or by making online shopping payments, etc. The victim is not likely to realize that the SIM card has been reissued and the existing SIM card is no longer valid, and the victim suddenly loses communication with his/her cell phone.
(1) Go to the cell phone company and tell them that you have lost your phone and would like a SIM card reissued.
(2)Pass through identity verification using fraudulently obtained personal information or a forged ID.
(3) A SIM card with the subscriber’s information recorded on it is reissued, so they insert it into their phone and start using it.
The criminals steal personal information through phishing scams and other methods in order to create a counterfeit ID card to be used in (2) above. Please take care to manage your personal information on a daily basis, and if you suspect that your personal information has been compromised, take measures to prevent damage by changing various passwords, changing cell phone companies, etc. If you are unfortunate enough to be a victim of fraud, please report it to the police immediately.
(Announcement by the City of Toronto Police Department)
https://www.tps.ca/media-centre/news-releases/ten-arrests-made-and-115-charges-laid-in-project-d/#:~:text=A%20SIM%20swap%20scam%20 is,placed%20to%20a%20mobile%20telephone.
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