The main question before starting the story in this article: do you put a lock on the SIM card? I mean, do you have an active PIN or do you prefer to use a SIM card without it, naively believing that if your smartphone is locked for fingerprint and face scanning, then you are safe? If the answer is no, I will explain why you have to do this to be absolutely safe. If your protection is on, but you did it without a second thought, just turning it on and that's it, then I will explain why you did everything right. In any case, the SIM card should be protected. This will not only save you money, but also time and hassle.
Take care of your SIM card!
What to do if you lost your smartphone
First of all, you should understand that if you lose your smartphone or have it stolen from you, you should contact the operator to block your SIM card. In addition to protecting yourself from illegal use of your number, you can easily recover it. The restoration is carried out immediately in the salon. They just give you an empty SIM card and sew your number on it. Everything, you can use it.
Do not forget that your SIM card can be used by telephone hooligans, for whom you will be responsible if you have not said before that you no longer have your SIM card. To do this, you just need to call the operator and, even if you cannot block it by phone, you need to ask to record your appeal so that later you will have an alibi.
In addition to hooligans, your SIM card can be used by scammers who will call strangers or send messages to your friends. The degree of abuse can vary. but it is not worth leading to this. Better to block immediately or …
Or what I started the article with. Just block the SIM card with a PIN. In this case, no one will simply be able to access your number. “But my smartphone is already locked with a password” – you say and you will be partly right. This is all relevant only as long as the SIM card is inside the device. But if you take it out and insert it into another phone, it will be defenseless. PIN blocking can protect against this.
A lot can be stolen through the phone if you have access to the number.
Of course, it is unlikely that your number will be used exactly as a number. For hooliganism or fraud, it is easier to buy a SIM card without registration or with registration as a figurehead, and in order to get hold of your number, there must be a significant interest in it, which is unlikely, although possible. There is another scheme that will allow scammers to get hold of a lot, but on the contrary, you will lose a lot.
Why do scammers steal SIM cards?
Now let's talk about how you sign in if you have two-factor authentication. Or, for example, how do you recover passwords on social networks or mail? Okay, let's say it uses an email address, but what to do with a bank card?
In most cases, data recovery and confirmation commands for a transfer or password recovery to your personal account are received in SMS messages to the card owner's phone number. This is where the pulp begins.
An attacker, having taken possession of your phone, first of all will take out the SIM card from it and insert it into another device. After that, he will dial from him to another phone and find out your number. Knowing the number, he will go through the websites of all major banks in an attempt to enter his personal account. It might just install the application, but it doesn't change the essence. Moreover, there are literally a few large banks. Among them are Sberbank, VTB, Alfa Bank, Tinkoff, Raiffeisen and possibly a couple more banks. Most likely, the first four will be enough for him.
Then it's a matter of technology. Having restored the password to your personal account via SMS, the attacker will be able to transfer money anywhere, again using the confirmation that will come to your phone number. Your bank account is now at his complete disposal.
Cheating is everywhere!
Of course, not everyone will bother so much. Many people steal a phone just to bail out a few thousand rubles for it, and this is enough for them, but there are also more advanced thieves.
The banking system is designed in such a way that transfers cannot go anywhere. Everything can be tracked and understood who received the money, but having certain opportunities, you can confuse the tracks and transfer money in such a way that it will be very problematic to find them. In the end, you can access, for example, QIWI or other similar sites and withdraw money almost anywhere. Again, any access is possible by phone number.
Why do I need a PIN code?
I am more than sure that few people, after they find out that the phone is gone, will block the SIM card first. Even if you understand that there is such a danger and you must first block it, you may not notice for a long time that the phone is gone. For example, if the phone was stolen before a movie show or at the train station just before the train departs.
In this case, by placing a PIN on your SIM card, you will protect yourself from unauthorized use and there will be no need to drop everything and run to block it. The smartphone will be protected by its own password, and the SIM card will be protected by its own, even if you insert it into another device. The smartphone will be a shame, but at least everything else will be safe. Sometimes this rest is even more valuable than a new pipe. Therefore, we go into the settings, select the appropriate item and put a tick 'ask for PIN'.