New SIM Swap Hacks Highlight Carriers' Wobbly Security [telecom]

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By Martha Degrasse

Several new studies have found that hackers can convince wireless carriers' customer service agents to port legitimate phone numbers to bogus accounts -- a practice that can then open that account up to fraud and theft.

Researchers at Princeton University called three of the four major carriers and tried to convince customer service representatives to move phone numbers to new SIM cards. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile each received ten calls from the researchers, who posed as customers.