SIM swap fraud on the rise – Vodacom

SIM swap fraud is a technique used by fraudsters to defraud unsuspecting internet banking users.

Vodacom says SIM swap fraud attempts are on the increase.

According to the operator, fraudsters who engage in SIM swap fraud are posing as cellphone company representatives to try and trick unsuspecting customers who end up being victims of internet banking fraud.

SIM swap fraud is a technique used by fraudsters to defraud unsuspecting internet banking users.

SIM swap fraud is a technique used by fraudsters to defraud unsuspecting internet banking users. Once they have acquired the victim’s banking details and other personal information through phishing scams, the fraudsters then call the network operator posing as the customer and request a SIM swap.

This will cancel the customer’s SIM connection and the fraudsters will have access to the customer’s cellphone line. This will enable the fraudsters to receive the customer’s one time internet banking password allowing them to perform fraudulent internet banking transactions.

“We’ll never call our customers and ask them to switch off their cellphones unless they have requested assistance with a handset related issue that requires their cellphones to be switched off. So if they’ve not logged a fault with us, they should be suspicious of any requests to switch off their cellphone,” says Johan Van Graan, chief risk officer at Vodacom.

The operator says that in order to protect customers from SIM swap fraud, Vodacom notifies customers via SMS whenever a SIM swap attempt is made. Customers who receive the SMS but have not requested a SIM swap should alert Vodacom about the fraudulent SIM swap request by calling Vodacom’s customer care on 082 111.

According to Vodacom, fraudsters have resorted to calling customers to try to either convince them to switch off their phones for an extended period of time or try and convince them to ignore the SMS from the network operator.

“If a customer receives an SMS notification indicating that they have requested a SIM swap, they should ignore any further communication and immediately contact Vodacom and we’ll take the necessary steps to protect them,” Van Graan says.