Three, a telephone company, has been slammed by the couple who wish to remain anonymous and have also been cleared of their bank account saying that the company does not take security seriously enough, essentially helping to 'facilitate' so-called "sim swap scams".

In early December 2019, whilst in Colombia, they notified This is Money since their number was taken. The phone company accidentally gave it over to an identity thief and the funds was robbed through a Revolut account right after intervention but was eventually returned. The phone company gave them a refund. However, it took more than a month to get their cash back. They blame the telecommunications company for the situation causing emotional pain, stress and anxiety.

Red Phone
Reuters

Once more, their situation illustrates the crucial role that telephone companies play in allowing or preventing fraud, particularly sim swap scams in which fraudsters can acquire the telephone numbers of victims by convincing providers to distribute Pac codes. It is a special code that enables clients to hop from one company to the next and should be dished out once security checks have been carried out. Scammers remove the mobile number, acquire the Pac using some of the personal data they collected, and use it to extract money.

Several people are now using banking apps, and phone numbers as it can be used as a backup to log in to banking accounts. According to Action Fraud, this sort of fraud has stolen more than £ 9.1million over the past five years.

Chef and writer Jack Monroe was a prominent victim and lost £ 5,000 after her number was stolen. This is Money was communicated on the website of the corporate network LinkedIn at the beginning of December by a viewer who said that her partner had lost £25,000 and his phone number after a fraudster persuaded Three to port his number in late November. The thief used the number to obtain and send the money in several currencies to Lloyds Bank and Revolut account.

Three said that they were sorry they were the victim of fraud, and apologized deeply for the delay in sorting out this problem.

The company also added that the primary purpose of getting phone number from someone else is to commit financial fraud. In fact, by the time offenders try to obtain the phone number of someone else, they have large amounts of personal and financial information to impersonate them.

It meant that perhaps the scammer could pass our security checks and request a new Pac. Despite this and the monetary loss, the company insisted that there had been no sim swap scam. The telephone company added that they have recently implemented a number of enhanced tests for anyone trying to get the phone number from someone else and are working closely with the rest of the telecommunications industry to monitor, identify threats and take action.

However, as in most aspects of life, it is much more beneficial for we the consumer to always conduct proper checks and balances when it comes to using technology.