SIM swap

1. Research. The attacker collects personal details — often from data breaches, social media or phishing.
2. Impersonation. They contact the operator (or use a compromised insider or online account) claiming a lost phone, and request the number on a new SIM or eSIM.
3. Takeover. Once the operator links your MSISDN to their SIM, your phone loses service and their device receives your texts.
4. Account access. They trigger password resets and SMS one-time passwords for email, banking and crypto accounts.

The same mechanism is used legitimately every day when people replace damaged SIMs or switch to eSIM — the fraud lies in the missing authorization.

• Your phone suddenly shows "No service" or "SOS only" in an area with normal coverage.
• You receive a notification from your operator about a SIM change you did not request.
• Emails arrive about password resets or new logins you did not make.

If this happens, contact your operator from another phone immediately and secure your email account first.

• Add an operator PIN or port-out lock where your carrier offers one.
• Move important accounts off SMS 2FA to authenticator apps, passkeys or security keys, keeping SMS only as a backup.
• Keep recovery numbers private. A number that appears everywhere online is easier to target. Using a separate number for account security, one you do not publish, reduces exposure.
• Watch for signals. Many banks and services check recent SIM changes (often via HLR lookups or operator APIs) before approving sensitive actions.

A PhoneBorn account is created with email and password only and managed in a browser dashboard, so there is no physical SIM of yours in the chain; protect it with a strong unique password. For how to keep your security number stable, see keep your number for 2FA.