MTN Fraudulent SIM Swap

Giarc86

Giarc86

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I was recently a victim of a fraudulent sim swap on my MTN number that I have had for nearly 20 years. The concerning thing is that I received no notification that a SIM swap was in progress. No SMS confirming that it was happening.

Earlier in the day I had a persistent caller who phoned 4 times before I picked up. I was told that there is a problem with my bank account. Guessing it was a scam I told him there wasn't and he put the phone down. He didn't ask for any personal information nor did I offer him any.

Later that day I got a notification from my banking app that R200 airtime had been bought for some random number. I then realised that my phone had lost network connectivity. I blocked my banking profile and contacted MTN - currently waiting for a SIM swap reversal to take place.

My question is how is someone able to do a SIM swap without a request? I'm guessing it's most likely an inside job which is very concerning as it could happen at anytime again.
Also it seems to be a regular thing with MTN. Is there perhaps a way one could add themselves to a list where you have to do a SIM swap in person at a store?
Alternatively is there a network that is less susceptible to these fraudulent SIM swaps or uses a different SIM swap process to MTN?

Thanks
 
Had the same issue with Vodacom last your , still waiting for them to show me the paperwork who requested the Sim swap
 
My wife's MTN phone suffered the same fate in February 2023. We live in Cape Town. MTN said she visited a shop in Emalahleni which is in Mpumalanga and asked for it there

Nonsense of course, never been to this town and she was in hospital at the time. MTN would not budge. They continued to debit her account with R299 a month, even though she supposedly did not own this number any more

It took 3 visits to the bank to stop the d/o. For a few months thereafter she received emails telling her there were extra bank charges due to the d/o being declined

A visit to MTN in Constantia Village in December sorted it out. The lady there critisised her about her not advising MTN that there was a problem. A list of the 32 phone calls to MTN got the response "you did not speak to me".

Any excuse not to accept responsibility
 
Wife had the same happen late last year. Was on contract for years prepaid for years then this.

Also no warning especially as we dont travel out and wifi is on all the time.

She got the number back apparently only way to get it back is reswop it but onto contract then it can "never' happen again.

The reversal you refer to failed 3 times going onto the cheapest contract was only way to get number back.
 
You just need one/ignorant/stupid MTN shop person to do a sim swap.
For prepaid I wish you have to show proof of ID if you claim your sim is lost or stolen but you don't. Apparently the RICA system is separate meaning inside the store your number isn't linked to your ID so you can't which is so stupid. Instead any guy off the street can claim your number and then bring a affidavit claiming it is his number. The affidavit isn't even verified. You don't even have to be a citizen of SA to claim the number is yours.
What is scary is someone doesn't even have to visit a store to take over your sim. They can all do over the phone with the call center and email a fake/real affidavit copy if they fail the security questions.

SA is extremely weak on sim swap fraud.

What also irks me more is the corruption inside the sim swap. I accidentally broke my sim and got a replacement sim(same number). After doing that I get bombarded with spam messages. Same happens if you number port or new contract. The f'ers realize if you buy a new phone/contract you are more likely to buy other things so they sell your details to marketing companies the moment you do and you get spammed the **** with calls and SMSs.
 
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Referring to post # 3, my wife said to mention that she is still awaiting a R1496,00 refund for services applied to a number she no longer owned.

MTN have "re-escalated" it 4 times. The Constantia Village lady said that since the airtime has been used, there can be no refund. Ponting out that MTN themselves deleted the number but continued to debit the bank account, this a fraud. The response was "go and see a lawyer"
 
MTN used to have a wonderful feature called MTN secure, where you'd get emailed an OTP before a SIM swap, but they cancelled it. I imagine it was making their customers too secure.
 
My aunt was scammed using that tactic during the week of 8 January 2024. The person ask emergency funds from all people on her whatsapp some send the money some have intensive questions they asked which the scammer failed to answer. But thanks the scam was contained. Even customer care won't block a number unless they are speaking with the owner of phone number. Reporting a swim swap fraud is useless.
 
Also guessing it's an inside job.

I have a SIM thats only ever been in a laptop. January I put it into a phone for the first and sure as nuts received two phone calls within an hour of one another. Both callers saying this used to be their friend's number.

30 minutes later received a code asking me to authorise WhatsApp on the SIM.
 
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Madness that these operators can make it your problem, accept no responsibility and do as little as possible to assist.
 
MTN told my wife that they never make mistakes and spend their time sorting out customers carelessness
 
Had this issue with a Prepaid Vodacom number I bought from someone. Guy continued to seize the number to fleece me out of more cash for the number. He had a Vodacom consultant (wife @ store level) on the inside. So they continuously did a sim swap. I didn't pay him a cent more, but it was my mission to get that number to prove to him that I could beat him at his own game.
I eventually ported that number to MTN, and yet again they managed to do the same. After a few attempts at an MTN store, I figured out a trick to stop this sim swap nonsense.

Call the Call center and tell them to flag the number. They will ask you to create your own question and answer. This info is not forwarded to stores, so no one can swap @ store level. Any attempts made for a sim swap will require the thief to answer that question.

This has worked for me thus far. The number is active on my side.
 
cfilorux said:
Here's the new trick: the sim swapper keeps rolling sim swaps going, so you can't request the number back.
Click to expand...
How though, apparently you can only do a sim swap every 4 weeks or similar?
 
Giarc86 said:
I was recently a victim of a fraudulent sim swap on my MTN number that I have had for nearly 20 years. The concerning thing is that I received no notification that a SIM swap was in progress. No SMS confirming that it was happening.

Earlier in the day I had a persistent caller who phoned 4 times before I picked up. I was told that there is a problem with my bank account. Guessing it was a scam I told him there wasn't and he put the phone down. He didn't ask for any personal information nor did I offer him any.

Later that day I got a notification from my banking app that R200 airtime had been bought for some random number. I then realised that my phone had lost network connectivity. I blocked my banking profile and contacted MTN - currently waiting for a SIM swap reversal to take place.

My question is how is someone able to do a SIM swap without a request? I'm guessing it's most likely an inside job which is very concerning as it could happen at anytime again.
Also it seems to be a regular thing with MTN. Is there perhaps a way one could add themselves to a list where you have to do a SIM swap in person at a store?
Alternatively is there a network that is less susceptible to these fraudulent SIM swaps or uses a different SIM swap process to MTN?

Thanks
Click to expand...
The same thing happened to my mother, twice! After the first one it took almost 3 weeks to get the number back. They put her on a 'watchlist' in October and then in January she was swapped again. No SMS or call just a pop up the next day saying something like "y'ello share your new number with your family and friends". I don't know what the solution is. I'd like her to open a contract with a different network but I am not sure that will be any better. The consumer journalist Wendy Knowler was talking about sim swap fraud on 702 today
 
I am getting monthly calls like this

“This is MTN fraud.... someone tried to do a sim swop.... we need to verify bla bla bla...”
 
Tana24 said:
The same thing happened to my mother, twice! After the first one it took almost 3 weeks to get the number back. They put her on a 'watchlist' in October and then in January she was swapped again. No SMS or call just a pop up the next day saying something like "y'ello share your new number with your family and friends". I don't know what the solution is. I'd like her to open a contract with a different network but I am not sure that will be any better. The consumer journalist Wendy Knowler was talking about sim swap fraud on 702 today
Click to expand...
zerocool2009 said:
I am getting monthly calls like this

“This is MTN fraud.... someone tried to do a sim swop.... we need to verify bla bla bla...”
Click to expand...
Do you guys have desirable 786 numbers or something similar?
I’ve seen people sell those for some pretty hefty amounts and likewise be the reason thieves repeatedly target some cell numbers via sim swap fraud.
www.quora.com

Why the number 786 is considered to be lucky by many people?

Answer (1 of 14): > Number astrology is just as popular as astrology by alphabets. Some numbers are considered lucky and Holy while some others are unlucky. One such number in astrology is 786. According to numerology, 786 is a Holy number in Islam as well as in Hinduism. Want to understand the ...
www.quora.com www.quora.com
 
Giarc86 said:
I was recently a victim of a fraudulent sim swap on my MTN number that I have had for nearly 20 years. The concerning thing is that I received no notification that a SIM swap was in progress. No SMS confirming that it was happening.

Earlier in the day I had a persistent caller who phoned 4 times before I picked up. I was told that there is a problem with my bank account. Guessing it was a scam I told him there wasn't and he put the phone down. He didn't ask for any personal information nor did I offer him any.

Later that day I got a notification from my banking app that R200 airtime had been bought for some random number. I then realised that my phone had lost network connectivity. I blocked my banking profile and contacted MTN - currently waiting for a SIM swap reversal to take place.

My question is how is someone able to do a SIM swap without a request? I'm guessing it's most likely an inside job which is very concerning as it could happen at anytime again.
Also it seems to be a regular thing with MTN. Is there perhaps a way one could add themselves to a list where you have to do a SIM swap in person at a store?
Alternatively is there a network that is less susceptible to these fraudulent SIM swaps or uses a different SIM swap process to MTN?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Sim swap
 
Giarc86 said:
I was recently a victim of a fraudulent sim swap on my MTN number that I have had for nearly 20 years. The concerning thing is that I received no notification that a SIM swap was in progress. No SMS confirming that it was happening.

Earlier in the day I had a persistent caller who phoned 4 times before I picked up. I was told that there is a problem with my bank account. Guessing it was a scam I told him there wasn't and he put the phone down. He didn't ask for any personal information nor did I offer him any.

Later that day I got a notification from my banking app that R200 airtime had been bought for some random number. I then realised that my phone had lost network connectivity. I blocked my banking profile and contacted MTN - currently waiting for a SIM swap reversal to take place.

My question is how is someone able to do a SIM swap without a request? I'm guessing it's most likely an inside job which is very concerning as it could happen at anytime again.
Also it seems to be a regular thing with MTN. Is there perhaps a way one could add themselves to a list where you have to do a SIM swap in person at a store?
Alternatively is there a network that is less susceptible to these fraudulent SIM swaps or uses a different SIM swap process to MTN?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Sim swap
 
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