SIM-Card Hackers' Phone Fraud Is Costing Mobile Carriers a Fortune

Wireless carriers including AT&T and South Africa's Vodacom Group are facing a new threat: the illegal hacking of SIM cards, the small plastic chips that verify the identity of customers on mobile networks. Globally, carriers are expected to rack up $3.6 billion in losses from account fraud...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bloomberg businessweek (Online) 2013-10, p.1
Main Author: Robertson, Jordan
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Bank fraud
Hackers
Integrated circuits
Personal information
Wireless carriers
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Wireless carriers including AT&T and South Africa's Vodacom Group are facing a new threat: the illegal hacking of SIM cards, the small plastic chips that verify the identity of customers on mobile networks. Globally, carriers are expected to rack up $3.6 billion in losses from account fraud this year, nearly triple the amount in 2011, according to the Communications Fraud Control Association. In South Africa, criminals are hacking SIM cards of Vodacom customers whose bank accounts have also been compromised through other means, so they can intercept text alerts that banks send to verify transactions, says company spokesman Richard Boorman. That gives them cover to make several withdrawals without tipping off the account's owner.
ISSN:0007-7135
2162-657X