Hackers Are Hijacking Phone Numbers And Breaking Into Email, Bank Accounts
If you have a cell phone and use Gmail, Yahoo Mail, iCloud, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Twitter and the websites of banks and countless other web services, you are at risk of being hacked, having your money stolen, having sensitive information exposed and being blackmailed.
With just your phone number and a little bit of what’s called “social engineering” in which a hacker doesn’t necessarily need technical knowledge but just to convince a customer service rep that they are you, a maliciously intentioned person can break into all the above accounts and more.
And they have been doing just that, stealing money, blackmailing people with sensitive information, taking over social media and embarrassing their targets, or getting access to private documents such as tax returns and passport numbers. It starts by getting some readily available information about you like maybe address, number, birthday or last four of your Social Security Number and giving some combination of them and a plausible story to a telco customer service rep who then lets them into your account where they then proceed to have your phone number forwarded to their phone or “ported” to another carrier and the hacker’s device.