• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day

 | 

Italian police arrested a Chinese national suspected of cyberespionage on a U.S. warrant

 | 

U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

 | 

New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

 | 

Taiwan flags security risks in popular Chinese apps after official probe

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Google Chromium V8 flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 

North Korea-linked threat actors spread macOS NimDoor malware via fake Zoom updates

 | 

Critical Sudo bugs expose major Linux distros to local Root exploits

 | 

Google fined $314M for misusing idle Android users' data

 | 

A flaw in Catwatchful spyware exposed logins of +62,000 users

 | 

China-linked group Houken hit French organizations using zero-days

 | 

Cybercriminals Target Brazil: 248,725 Exposed in CIEE One Data Breach

 | 

Europol shuts down Archetyp Market, longest-running dark web drug marketplace

 | 

Kelly Benefits data breach has impacted 550,000 people, and the situation continues to worsen as the investigation progresses

 | 

Cisco removed the backdoor account from its Unified Communications Manager

 | 

U.S. Sanctions Russia's Aeza Group for aiding crooks with bulletproof hosting

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Breaking News
  • Cyber Crime
  • Hacking
  • SIM swap fraud cases force bank to improve security

SIM swap fraud cases force bank to improve security

Pierluigi Paganini March 05, 2016

Two major high street banks will change security procedures after journalists  demonstrated how to carry out SIM swap fraud attacks.

The BBC reported that two major high street banks will adopt new security measures to protect their customers. The decision to modify the security procedures follows the scoop made by two journalists from BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme that broke into an account online and removed money.

Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting bank customers with different techniques, one of them is known as ‘SIM swap fraud.’

A SIM swap fraud is a type of fraud that overwhelms the additional security measures introduced by banks to protect customer transactions. Basically cyber criminals are able to transfer cash from a victim’s account by accessing one-time pin codes and SMS notifications.

Criminal organizations obtain a customer’s bank details by launching a phishing campaign, or by purchasing them in the underground market.

At this point, the criminals open a parallel business account with the same victim’s bank, in the customer’s name. This is possible because the procedure involves fewer security checks when the victim is already a customer.

The criminals use answers to security questions obtained from the analysis of the victim’s social media accounts, to contact the victim’s mobile phone provider, posing as the customer, to report that their mobile device is lost or damaged.

They demonstrate their identity, answering basic security questions, this causes the cancellation of the old SIM and the activation of new one. From then the criminals can operate with the victim’s mobile account, intercepting or initiating calls, texts and authorizations that could allow them to transfer cash.

The cybercriminals can also request that security settings are changed to lock out the victim from the account.

Recently bank customers’ accounts have been successfully hacked with the SIM swap fraud technique, several victims reported the crimes to the You and Yours programme.

“You and Yours has been contacted by dozens of people affected by the scam. All say they have never revealed their security details to anyone, and the that first they knew something was wrong was their mobile phone going dead.” reported the BBC.

You and Yours producer Natalie Ms Donovan is a customer of the NatWest and decided to investigate on the SIM swap fraud cases.

SIM swap fraud natwest bank

She used her bank account as an experiment and her colleague Shari Vahl was able to break into her account without having specific information such as the banking customer number, PIN or any passwords.

“I did not know her mother’s maiden name, her pet’s name or her first school, and yet I was still able to change her PIN and password to lock her out of her own account.” continues Shari Vahl 

In the experiment, the attacker only transferred £1.50 to his bank account by controlling the of Natalie Donovan ‘s mobile phone.

The journalists reported the issue to the NatWest, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland. Representatives from the Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed that that the systems for both banks would be changed as a direct result of the You and Yours investigation.

“This is a cross-industry problem, particularly with us, and the telecom companies. We working with Financial Fraud Action UK to make sure we’re communicating with each other … to make sure mobile phone security is as strong as it possibly can be.” said Chris Popple, managing director of NatWest Digital.

[adrotate banner=”9″] [adrotate banner=”12″]

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – SIM swap fraud, banking)

[adrotate banner=”5″]

[adrotate banner=”13″]


facebook linkedin twitter

banking Cybercrime fraud Hacking mobile SIM swap fraud UK

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 08, 2025
Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 08, 2025
Italian police arrested a Chinese national suspected of cyberespionage on a U.S. warrant
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day

    Security / July 08, 2025

    Italian police arrested a Chinese national suspected of cyberespionage on a U.S. warrant

    Intelligence / July 08, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 08, 2025

    IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

    Cyber Crime / July 08, 2025

    New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

    Malware / July 07, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT