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Telecom and account scams hijack the phone number and logins that protect everything else. SIM swapping and number porting move your number to a scammer's device to intercept verification codes, while account-takeover and hacked-friend scams exploit reused passwords and trust. Protect yourself with a carrier PIN, app-based two-factor authentication instead of SMS, and a habit of verifying any urgent request from a 'friend' by calling them directly.
Fraudsters hijack your phone number by convincing your carrier to transfer it to a SIM they control, bypassing SMS-based two-factor authentication.
Fraudsters transfer your mobile number to a different carrier without your consent, redirecting your calls and texts to intercept security codes.
Fake carrier upgrade offers or impersonators trick you into handing over personal details, paying fees, or giving up your device in exchange for a promised upgrade that never arrives.
Fraudsters impersonate your mobile carrier's customer support team to harvest account credentials, authorise fraudulent changes, or extract payment.
Fraudsters gain unauthorised access to your existing accounts — email, banking, social media — using stolen credentials, phishing, or SIM swaps, then exploit or sell the access.
Fraudsters promise — or impersonate the process of obtaining — official social media or platform verification badges, charging fees or stealing credentials in the process.
Attackers use a compromised account to message the victim's contacts, exploiting established trust to request money, personal details, or account access.
Scammers claim to have obtained your personal data, passwords, or compromising material from a breach and threaten to share it unless you pay — often in cryptocurrency.