Identity Thieves Hijack Cellphone Accounts to Go After Virtual Currency [telecom]

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So-called phone porting attacks are exposing a vulnerability that could be exploited against anybody with valuable emails or other digital files.

By Nathaniel Popper

Hackers have discovered that one of the most central elements of online security - the mobile phone number - is also one of the easiest to steal.

In a growing number of online attacks, hackers have been calling up Verizon, T-Mobile U.S., Sprint and AT&T and asking them to transfer control of a victim's phone number to a device under the control of the hackers.