EE has warned customers about the ways in which fraudsters can trick people and take over their account.
Account takeovers can result in losing thousands as the bad actor can effectively make purchases in your name.
GettyKeep your accounts safe[/caption]
It can happen to any account you have, whether it be your mobile provider, credit card or emails.
In the case of EE and other networks, this could mean hackers getting into your account and buying expensive new iPhones that you’ll never see.
They collect it another way, walk off with the device and you’re left out of pocket.
There are three common ways criminals pull this off, as revealed by EE.
Intercept mobile phones
The crook will typically call up the customer offering a really good deal.
They’ll get you to make the order through your provider but they’ll try to intercept the delivery.
Or, they’ll encourage you to return the handset to an incorrect address for some trivial reason once it’s arrived.
So always be sure you’re returning items to a business’s official address.
Sim swap
Sim swap is where the fraudster pretends to be you and contacts your provider.
They will attempt to trick them into activating a SIM card that the fraudsters have.
If successful, they can then take control over your phone number and eventually receive validation codes to access accounts.
This is why your provider will ask loads of security questions whenever you contact them – and why it’s important to have really solid answers, not something anyone can work out or guess.
Call diversion
In a similar fashion to sim swap, call diversion is where a phone call is diverted to another phone so that your conversation can be secretly monitored.
They can then obtain personal information and do what they please with it.
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