My Mom just had her phone number and email account stolen

[48Fire]

In a matter of minutes, my Mom just had her phone number and email account stolen. By the time I woke up, had some coffee, tried to call my mom, it was all too late. Thankfully, I changed their large financial accounts to another email address six years ago. The hackers tried to break into that, but failed. By then we were able to freeze them. They have started to open credit cards, and who knows what else. Probably buying an island and a boat.

Four calls to AOL and they refuse to lock her account.

 

[Marc]

This is the scariest post I have ever read; please report how, when known. I have to figure out how to keep this from happening to either my wife or i.

 

[Jerry1]

This is the scariest post I have ever read; please report how, when known. I have to figure out how to keep this from happening to either my wife or i.

Some of it is just being the unlucky person that they selected. All you can do is maintain good security practices but nothing is 100%. It is important to recognize how important your email address is to your identity security. I don’t claim to know best practices, but we do use a separate email address for our financial and business dealings though I probably should change my password more frequently. How the phone number got stolen is a mystery to me but I’ve heard of people getting access to your phone in a way that kind of mirrors your number to another phone and then they use that to get around 2 factor authentication. It certainly is a scary thing.

 

[frayne]

Any idea how this may have happened? Everyday it seems, I get phishing and emails and texts, and they get more legit looking as well as sophisticated. I can see how some unsuspecting soul could easily be victimized.

 

[disneysteve]

We ran into a friend a few days ago who said she, her wife, and her wife’s mom, who are all on the same cell plan, all had their accounts hacked. Phone, bank, and credit cards. Thieves made thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges and withdrawals from the bank. They had to cancel multiple cards and accounts and are now waiting for the bank to investigate before they can get the money back. Fixing it all has been a huge mess. I don’t know all of the details but they’re pretty sure it stems from their shared Xfinity account.

 

[JoeWras]

Make sure to have an extra PIN on your cell phone for port-out. Most carriers allow this, but it typically is not the default. And don't make the PIN same as your other PINs.

 

[VanWinkle]

I went through this 2 weeks ago with my step mother. She is 88 and has multiple bank accounts due to CD purchases. She fell victim to the Microsoft helping her with her computer problem (which didn't exist). They convinced her to give her birthdate, SS number, and bank account #s. She was distraught when I visited her 2 days after this happened. She had taken some actions the day after it occurred. She closed all of her bank accounts and transferred the funds into new accounts at the banks. I helped her go to each bank and get a current statement on the old accounts and there wasn't any suspicious activity. She had only one online banking account, and I called the fraud department to freeze that account. I then called each credit bureau and froze her credit. Her investment account with a regional bank was reduced to no electronic withdrawals. She would have to show up in person with ID for any withdrawals.

She has eliminated her computer and wifi at her home and only has a cell phone for contact. Her life has changed due to this scammer. There is more to be done, but we wanted to make sure there was no more problems first.

 

[Marc]

Make sure to have an extra PIN on your cell phone for port-out. Most carriers allow this, but it typically is not the default. And don't make the PIN same as your other PINs.

This seems to solve the problem; or am I being too simplistic?

 

[48Fire]

This is the scariest post I have ever read; please report how, when known. I have to figure out how to keep this from happening to either my wife or i.

I'll try, thanks. Right now it is just damage control.

 

[48Fire]

Some of it is just being the unlucky person that they selected. All you can do is maintain good security practices but nothing is 100%. It is important to recognize how important your email address is to your identity security. I don’t claim to know best practices, but we do use a separate email address for our financial and business dealings though I probably should change my password more frequently. How the phone number got stolen is a mystery to me but I’ve heard of people getting access to your phone in a way that kind of mirrors your number to another phone and then they use that to get around 2 factor authentication. It certainly is a scary thing.

Yes, we're learning that is one of the techniques. Scary as hell. They were close to losing everything

 

[48Fire]

Any idea how this may have happened? Everyday it seems, I get phishing and emails and texts, and they get more legit looking as well as sophisticated. I can see how some unsuspecting soul could easily be victimized.

Not a clue at this point. I highly suspect it might be an inside job from a Spectrum guy, or one that looks like a Spectrum guy. They seem to be in and out of Mom and Dad's place a lot for various "problems". I did some troubleshooting a few weeks ago, and was surprised that their password and user names were changed and had an icloud extension. When I spoke with the technical support, they said that was very strange, and helped me change it. But, it could be anything I guess.

 

[48Fire]

I went through this 2 weeks ago with my step mother. She is 88 and has multiple bank accounts due to CD purchases. She fell victim to the Microsoft helping her with her computer problem (which didn't exist). They convinced her to give her birthdate, SS number, and bank account #s. She was distraught when I visited her 2 days after this happened. She had taken some actions the day after it occurred. She closed all of her bank accounts and transferred the funds into new accounts at the banks. I helped her go to each bank and get a current statement on the old accounts and there wasn't any suspicious activity. She had only one online banking account, and I called the fraud department to freeze that account. I then called each credit bureau and froze her credit. Her investment account with a regional bank was reduced to no electronic withdrawals. She would have to show up in person with ID for any withdrawals.

She has eliminated her computer and wifi at her home and only has a cell phone for contact. Her life has changed due to this scammer. There is more to be done, but we wanted to make sure there was no more problems first.

My Mom is 88 and Dad is 90. Keep me posted. Good luck. A royal PITA. I think we are looking at no internet and just burner phone or a jitterbug phone.

 

[48Fire]

We ran into a friend a few days ago who said she, her wife, and her wife’s mom, who are all on the same cell plan, all had their accounts hacked. Phone, bank, and credit cards. Thieves made thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges and withdrawals from the bank. They had to cancel multiple cards and accounts and are now waiting for the bank to investigate before they can get the money back. Fixing it all has been a huge mess. I don’t know all of the details but they’re pretty sure it stems from their shared Xfinity account.

Thanks, sounds similar. It's really just my Mom on the account. Dad is computer illiterate and doesn't use a smart phone at all.

 

[48Fire]

Make sure to have an extra PIN on your cell phone for port-out. Most carriers allow this, but it typically is not the default. And don't make the PIN same as your other PINs.

Thanks, I don't really follow what you're saying, but I'll ask the Spectrum help at the phone store. That's the next stop after the bank.

 

[braumeister]

Thanks, I don't really follow what you're saying, but I'll ask the Spectrum help at the phone store. That's the next stop after the bank.

When your phone number is transferred to a different carrier, it's called "porting" the number. They will all let you set up a PIN that has to be entered before a port can occur. It's free and simple.

 

[48Fire]

When your phone number is transferred to a different carrier, it's called "porting" the number. They will all let you set up a PIN that has to be entered before a port can occur. It's free and simple.

Ok, gotcha, thanks

 

[Jerry1]

When your phone number is transferred to a different carrier, it's called "porting" the number. They will all let you set up a PIN that has to be entered before a port can occur. It's free and simple.

I just did this at T-Mobile and it's a little different. I had to go into my account and turn on SIM protection. Similar to locking your credit report. I'd have to log into my account to turn it off if I get a new phone. I'm goo with that. I don't understand why having it locked isn't the default. When I went in, SIM protection was off.

 

[Marc]

I just did this at T-Mobile and it's a little different. I had to go into my account and turn on SIM protection. Similar to locking your credit report. I'd have to log into my account to turn it off if I get a new phone. I'm goo with that. I don't understand why having it locked isn't the default. When I went in, SIM protection was off.

I have T-mobile too and I think that protection might be different. I saw with T-Mobile to call a 877 number or dial 611 to set up Port-out PIN. Either way, I have to remember my T-mobile "basic" PIN first.

 

[JoeWras]

This seems to solve the problem; or am I being too simplistic?

It doesn't solve every problem, but it helps stop the most serious. A port-out of a number is a very serious issue because it gives the thieves a way to do two factor authentication (2FA). If they have that, you are in very, very deep doo-doo.

Port-out scams are not as common as others, but when they happen, it is a nuclear event. Unfortunately, OP's mom was targeted very strongly as an easy mark, so the scammers went down hard and did the port out and then the change of email passwords. This is really unfortunate.

I always thought port-outs were uncommon or too much work for scammers. They usually are, but if your profile hits enough check marks for the thieves, they'll do it.

 

[Lewis Clark]

Thank you for sharing this story.

 

[48Fire]

You're welcome, good advice here as always

 

[48Fire]

It doesn't solve every problem, but it helps stop the most serious. A port-out of a number is a very serious issue because it gives the thieves a way to do two factor authentication (2FA). If they have that, you are in very, very deep doo-doo.

Port-out scams are not as common as others, but when they happen, it is a nuclear event. Unfortunately, OP's mom was targeted very strongly as an easy mark, so the scammers went down hard and did the port out and then the change of email passwords. This is really unfortunate.

I always thought port-outs were uncommon or too much work for scammers. They usually are, but if your profile hits enough check marks for the thieves, they'll do it.

Thanks for the additional details. Still some work to do. They just got back from the Verizon store with their new phones and new numbers. Mom is insisting on still doing online banking on her phone. I'll be setting her up with a new email account, Gmail not AOL. Hoping they have a clean slate for the moment.

 

[misanman]

Number Lock seems like a good idea to me so I went to the Verizon app and found that both my phone and DW's phone were already locked. I don't remember setting the lock on but I suppose I may have done it years ago. Anyway, glad to verify that it is on. Thanks for the info.

 

[48Fire]

Number Lock seems like a good idea to me so I went to the Verizon app and found that both my phone and DW's phone were already locked. I don't remember setting the lock on but I suppose I may have done it years ago. Anyway, glad to verify that it is on. Thanks for the info.

So does number lock work no matter where the phone is physically located? My Mom never lost possession of her phone, somehow the hacker stole her number, and transferred it to his phone.

 

[CautaServans]

I'm sorry to hear about your mom's experience.

For some reason, this NYTimes article did not offer a gift link, but maybe they think it is important enough to make public. It's about passkeys:

Passkeys Are the New Passwords. You Should Start Using Them Now.

Passkeys are supposed to replace passwords. Here’s why that matters — and why we recommend them.

www.nytimes.com

Let me know if you hit a paywall, and I will see if I can find the gift link.