Several police authorities warn a new bank data flight technique, which uses your smartphone.
IT pirates are full of techniques and tricks to succeed in infiltrating your favorite devices, usurping your identity and stealing your personal data. Their final goal, however, is often the same: reaching your bank account.
In recent days, several local authorities and the Spanish national police warn owners of smartphones in the face of the resurgence of a new technique. The latter, well used, can allow malicious people to manage to use your phone without even realizing it. Once the manipulation is completed, it is then possible for computer hackers to manage to steal your banking identifiers and perform transfers on your back.
However, this new technique is not flawless. There are signs that can put you on the track if someone is accessing your personal data as well as means of remedying it, but you need to do as quickly as possible.
This new technique is called the “SIM cards copy”. This is not really a new way of stealing your data in itself, but it observes a real resurgence in recent months. It is based on a simple principle, as its name suggests, to copy your SIM card.
To do this, computer hackers infect your smartphone through several already well -known techniques (phishing, attacks via malware, viruses on your mail or SMS box …) which allow them to copy the information on your SIM card and install it on one of their devices. They can then extract sensitive information such as your identifiers and passwords on your favorite sites, as well as your banking application.
The first thing that should put your ear in your ear to find out if your SIM card has been copied without your knowledge is the impossibility of making phone calls or sending SMS. Please note, we are talking about SMS that use your mobile network and not RCS or MMS messages that use the Internet. These problems can be encountered if someone is using your SIM card for you.
Also pay attention to the emails and messages from your Internet operator. If the latter alerts you that your SIM card has been deactivated or activated on another device without it being on your part, there is a good chance that you are the victim of a copy of your card. It is also possible to contact your operator to get it all clear.
Finally, the last and bigger concern to know if your SIM card has been copied and used is to use your banking connection identifiers on your dedicated application. If these identifiers no longer work, it is because they may have been changed behind your back. Quickly contact your bank advisor to share your concern and check the latest actions on your bank account.
The best way to protect yourself against the copy of the SIM card is still to update your phone regularly to avoid undergoing attacks on a potentially vulnerable smartphone. Do not hesitate to use two factors on your banking application (with facial recognition or an email code for example).