SIM Swap

A SIM Swap attack is a type of fraud where a hacker gains control of a victim’s phone number by transferring it to a new SIM card. This is typically done by tricking or bribing a telecom provider’s customer service into porting the victim’s number to the hacker’s SIM card. Once they have control over the phone number, the attacker can bypass two-factor authentication (2FA) and access sensitive accounts, including cryptocurrency wallets and exchange accounts. SIM Swap attacks have led to significant losses in the crypto community as hackers use them to steal funds by resetting passwords and gaining unauthorized access to wallets. Example: A victim may lose access to their email or crypto exchange accounts if a hacker uses SIM Swap to bypass 2FA.