SIM swap

[oafpatroll]

Yesterday a SIM swap was performed on my phone without me having anything to do with it and no idea until my phone showed a 'sim not supported' error and I was off the network. When I checked my account my airtime had been depleted.

Since the network operator operates the network I'm assuming they know how and who this is done by. On contacting the network the agent was completely nonchalant. Makes me think this falls into the same category as the not turning off stolen phones category in that they have no incentive to do so.

Does anyone with insight care to explain how this works and if there's any way to prevent it happening again?

[flyinggun]

Inside job as the Agent must action a swop.

[oafpatroll]

Inside job as the Agent must action a swop.

I assumed as much. That means they could fix the problem in a week with basic case management controls. I increasingly get the feeling that everything in our little patch of paradise is run by skelms.

[flyinggun]

Even with me staying in Paradise Beach, our Paradise is better then most. I have started not to so bussiness over the phone. To much inside things, lets do it or email or Teams.

[oafpatroll]

Ja, so my impression that they intentionally facilitate this shit and have no interest whatever in curbing it is cemented. The sim swap was performed without me having a thing to do with it. That means it was initiated from another phone that is on the mtn network and for which they have the unique sim and device fingerprint. If this were the financial r investment worlds those would be indicators of higher risk and would require enhanced due dilligence. Here not so much and it's obviously easy enough to do and happens enough for it not to be noteworthy.

What's much more difficult is getting something done about it. Despite MTN having a closed loop on the request and execution of the 'transaction' for me to get the value back I have to go to a police station and write up an affidavit and then submit ID copies and all sorts and then they will 'investigate' and refund me. It's less trouble getting refunded by a bank for 10s of thousands of rands of credit card fraud which i have had happen twice. In both cases it require no paperwork at all and the bank doesn't control the full loop.

It's straight up fucken crooked and is a brilliant worked example of how all of the legislation that is foisted on us like RICA and FICA amount to so much wasted time and paper. FICA failed to notice the 10s of billions of money looted and offshored through banking channels by 'state capture' and RICA is as useful in controlling ownership of a cell phone number as tits are on a bulldog.

[oafpatroll]

Even with me staying in Paradise Beach, our Paradise is better then most. I have started not to so bussiness over the phone. To much inside things, lets do it or email or Teams.

True that but only until something goes wrong and you depend on a response from the authorities.

[flyinggun]

True that but only until something goes wrong and you depend on a response from the authorities.

What authorities? Out SAPS suggest what you use a spesific Security Company. As the Security Officers will be on the scene in 3 minutes.

[oafpatroll]

What authorities? Out SAPS suggest what you use a spesific Security Company. As the Security Officers will be on the scene in 3 minutes.

I think you've made my point for me.

[Hyades]

I wonder if a sim swop (such as what happened to you) is possible with an eSim?

To my knowledge the eSims are much more secure.

Hmmm….


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[oafpatroll]

I wonder if a sim swop (such as what happened to you) is possible with an eSim?

To my knowledge the eSims are much more secure.

Hmmm….


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

My gut says that if the network doesn't implement controls and consequences it would all be much of a muchness. Given the closed ecosystem within which the crime happens it's very safe to conclude that they know exactly who did what and when.

The fact that they don't blacklist stolen phones so they can't be used in SA or anywhere else where they own the network suggests they aren't fired up.

That they make fixing a hijacked SIM a great deal harder than hijacking it makes it impossible for me to believe they have any interest whatever in slowing the incidence.