Urgent Help required - Illegal sim swap

tridev

tridev

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Hi,

I need urgent assistance. I am travelling overseas in a remote country and enabled roaming before I left. However yesterday I realized my SIM stopped working.

I phoned MTN 083 135 today and they said a sim swap was done yesterday. They said the verification questions failed and that the person provided a affidavit and certified copy of ID after which the SIM swap was successful. They said they can't verify I am the correct account holder and said I have to provide certified copy of my ID and affidavit, I then pleaded for them to please stop the number as I am scared what these guys will do as they have a certified ID copy as well although I have my ID on me. They then hung up on me

I have no idea what the hackers are trying and what they will do and I need it stopped now I need to go to find foreign police station in a non English country to do affidavit and I don't even know if police do affidavits here and they won't do it in English.

Does mybb have any emergency contact with MTN that will use common sense and assist me? I am basically screwed?

Any assitance would be greatly appreciated.
 
Schit, I should post this in the thread about what South Africans are most afraid of.

Illegal SIM swop and accessing my bank account.
 
tridev said:
Hi,

I need urgent assistance. I am travelling overseas in a remote country and enabled roaming before I left. However yesterday I realized my SIM stopped working.

I phoned MTN 083 135 today and they said a sim swap was done yesterday. They said the verification questions failed and that the person provided a affidavit and certified copy of ID after which the SIM swap was successful. They said they can't verify I am the correct account holder and said I have to provide certified copy of my ID and affidavit, I then pleaded for them to please stop the number as I am scared what these guys will do as they have a certified ID copy as well although I have my ID on me. They then hung up on me

I have no idea what the hackers are trying and what they will do and I need it stopped now I need to go to find foreign police station in a non English country to do affidavit and I don't even know if police do affidavits here and they won't do it in English.

Does mybb have any emergency contact with MTN that will use common sense and assist me? I am basically screwed?

Any assitance would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Try phoning back. You might get lucky and get a more competent operator.
 
Does your internet banking or other financial systems rely on SIM OTPs? If not, the most they can probably do it to try to scam some people you know.

When you are back and in control of the number again, do this:

MTN secure

I saw Mtn launch MTN secure, so the number you Enter Is the number that will receive, the Sms for sim swapping. Dail; *141*0#, Enter 5 for Account, Enter 6 for Mtn Secure Enter 1 For Number And Finally Enter the number you which you would like to Receive the Sms for an Sim Swap.
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
 
I contacted MTN on facebook and they have reversed the SIM swap but it takes 24 hours.

Does this mean the crooks still have access to my number?

Them having a fake certified ID and fake affidavits is scary.
 
tridev said:
Hi,

I need urgent assistance. I am travelling overseas in a remote country and enabled roaming before I left. However yesterday I realized my SIM stopped working.

I phoned MTN 083 135 today and they said a sim swap was done yesterday. They said the verification questions failed and that the person provided a affidavit and certified copy of ID after which the SIM swap was successful. They said they can't verify I am the correct account holder and said I have to provide certified copy of my ID and affidavit, I then pleaded for them to please stop the number as I am scared what these guys will do as they have a certified ID copy as well although I have my ID on me. They then hung up on me

I have no idea what the hackers are trying and what they will do and I need it stopped now I need to go to find foreign police station in a non English country to do affidavit and I don't even know if police do affidavits here and they won't do it in English.

Does mybb have any emergency contact with MTN that will use common sense and assist me? I am basically screwed?

Any assitance would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
You must urgently check on activity on your bank accounts since the SIM swap, and continue doing so. Even better, phone your bank(s), freeze any bank accounts you have, and cancel any bank cards you have (credit, debit). I was subjected to an illegal sim swap last year from Cell C to MTN, and then my bank account was hacked.
 
argh said:
You must urgently check on activity on your bank accounts since the SIM swap, and continue doing so. Even better, phone your bank(s), freeze any bank accounts you have, and cancel any bank cards you have (credit, debit). I was subjected to an illegal sim swap last year from Cell C to MTN, and then my bank account was hacked.
Click to expand...
I am trying to but it isn't working. App is not working I assume because the SIM is not there.
Website is also not working
Can you see if you can access capitec's website. It looks down.

go to capitecs website https://www.capitecbank.co.za/ and click on internet banking or go direct to


nslookup fails. I tried another DNS server but it also fails for
direct.capitecbankco.za
 
tridev said:
I am trying to but it isn't working

Can you see if you can access capitec's website. It looks down.

go to capitecs website https://www.capitecbank.co.za/ and click on internet banking or go direct to


nslooku fails. I tried another DNS server but it also fails for
direct.capitecbankco.za
Click to expand...

It's definitely working... however the URL you posted isn't right though. You're missing a dot between capitecbank.co.za.

This is the correct one;

Online Banking | Capitec Bank

direct.capitecbank.co.za direct.capitecbank.co.za
 
backstreetboy said:
Who cares? The Capitec app is tied to your phone not sim...
Click to expand...
I think they are blocking my IP on the app.


genetic said:
It's definitely working;

View attachment 730591

Might be blocked in your country (China?)
Click to expand...
I can only think they are blocking all overseas IPs. I tried accessing that link on laptop with multiple browsers.

I also tried to access it on my phone's chrome browser but can't open it.
 
And the headline on mybb is
mybroadband.co.za

South African banks hit by massive DDoS attack

SABRIC announced that the South African banking industry has been hit by a wave of ransom-driven cyber DDoS attacks targeting consumer-facing services.
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za

I can only think capitec's solution to the DDoS attack is to block overseas IPs

if this is the case then the DDoS attacks is an ideal time for criminals to do illegal sim swaps with Capitec account holders that are overseas. You will never know as you can't receive SMSs that payment is being made and you can't use the app or website as they are blocking it.
 
Do you have a family member or close friend that you can teamviewer with and login locally?
 
I can access the Capitec Bank website from Johannesburg, South Africa, but the ransomware attacks on banks in South Africa may be complicating things. Some basic options I can think of: contact the bank on a social platform, and then continue to communicate with them by private messages. The email, phone & fax contacts for the bank according to their website: "Contact us on our 24hr channels: Phone (from overseas): +27 21 941 1377 Phone from within South Africa: 0860 10 20 43. Fax +27 21 941 0770. Email [email protected]
 
tridev said:
I think they are blocking my IP on the app.



I can only think they are blocking all overseas IPs. I tried accessing that link on laptop with multiple browsers.

I also tried to access it on my phone's chrome browser but can't open it.
Click to expand...

Yip, I can't access their online banking when using a VPN origin from another country.
 
tridev said:
I think they are blocking my IP on the app.
Click to expand...
www.capitecbank.co.za

app faqs

Have a question? Here is a list of frequently asked questions about our app. For more info, watch the how-to videos or give us a call on 0860 10 20 43.
www.capitecbank.co.za www.capitecbank.co.za

Our app was designed with security top of mind. Once you've installed and activated the app, your money is safe. Treat your Remote PIN like you do your bank card PIN – never share it with anyone. Remember that no one will be able to access your accounts using the app if they do an unauthorised SIM swap on your cellphone number because the app is linked to your cellphone.
Click to expand...
What I was saying.

argh said:
I can access the Capitec Bank website from Johannesburg, South Africa, but the ransomware attacks on banks in South Africa may be complicating things. Some basic options I can think of: contact the bank on a social platform, and then continue to communicate with them by private messages. The email, phone & fax contacts for the bank according to their website: "Contact us on our 24hr channels: Phone (from overseas): +27 21 941 1377 Phone from within South Africa: 0860 10 20 43. Fax +27 21 941 0770. Email [email protected]
Click to expand...
No it was a DDOS attack no need to spread FUD.
 
Regarding Capitec banking I phoned the call center today and tested the app and website and everything works

I asked the call center why did it work today and not yesterday for overseas IPs and they said "it was not working for everyone yesterday". I can only think that the way Capitec as a bank deals with DDoS is by blocking all overseas IPs
 
Just a recap.

I phoned 083 135 yesterday who wanted me to send them an affidavit and certified copy of ID to prove I am myself.
Since I am overseas and police stations don't speak english I don't think that would work.
I contacted MTN on facebook, provided all the details and they said they will do the SIM reversal but it will take 24 hours

Contacted MTN on facebook today 24 hours later saying the SIM is not working. To my surprise they said my country doesn't support roaming. I said it is impossible as roaming works and MTN website list the country as roaming supported.
After saying that she then came back and said prepaid customers cannot roam. Again I corrected her and pasted the link to MTN's website saying that it does support roaming for prepaid but you have to activate *135# which I did. I also told her roaming was working and I was receiving SMSs. However despite reading her own website's link she said it is not possible for prepaid to roam.

I decided to try the call center with the same question.
The call center basically told me the sim was already reversed. I told them it isn't working as I am overseas. They said I have to be in SA to work. I explained it is not working as I suspect it is overseas. They then said something like if the SIM is not working if have to come back to SA, get a sim and RICA it.

From what it sounds it is probably not technically able to reverse a sim swap if you are overseas as the SIM needs to be reactivated in SA. I can either fly back to SA to get it corrected or I am must live without SMSs.

This is problematic for two reasons.

1. I am now unable to do ANY transactions that require SMS verification like onlineor finance services. I have two step authentication with so many websites that require SMS but now I am stuck.
2. Since there was an illegal sim swap with a fake affidavit previously I could pick it up as my SIM no longer worked and I could phone MTN. However now there is no way to know if my sim will get swapped illegally again since my network is down permanently.

Since this affect all my finance and banking and all online services like two factor auth, I requested from MTN to send me a letter stating an illegal sim swap was done and it is not possible to activate my SIM while I am out the country. This letter is also useful to send to banks and other online services would would not understand that you cannot have an illegal sim swap reversed and that if it happens a 2nd time it would be impossible for me to realize it has been sim swapped again until I return back to SA.
They refer me to their fraud department who says they don't do that but I have to call digital forensics. I can't get through but if I did I can't see how forensics will give me he technical reason in writing why a SIM can't be reactivated while overseas.

What scares me is that these crooks paid for a SIM swap. No one pays for a SIM swap without having a plan to use the number for some purpose or other. No one goes to so much effort with a fake affidavit without having a plan.
The question is just what is their plan? I asked MTN what SMSs I received to that number but they said it is not possible. They said the only think I can do is to SMS from my number (which is not working as I am overseas) my e-mail address and date to 30988 and I will get a list of calls called and duration.

Out of interest I can see the crooks method of operation.
Since they are going to do SIM SWAP they need security answers.
1. they need to know which was the last number that called me.
To do this they sent me an SMS to send them airtime to number 061******. I don't fall for the bait and don't phone them asking who they are. I just assume it is wrong number.
2. I then get an SMS while I was sleeping that I have been sent R5 airtime from the crook's number 081XXXXX. The reason for this is because the crooks now have an answer to the MTN security question when was your last recharge
3. The crooks attempt the SIM swap procedure. They fail too many questions so it fails.
However they can still do SIM swap if they provide affidavit and copy of ID claiming they lost the SIM. They either had a fake copy of my ID or they have a copy of my real ID. How they get an affidavit who knows but I don't think MTN staff are smart to pick up the difference between a real or fake one. The SIM swap is successful and they have my number.

All in all MTN sucks. With hundreds of thousands of South African's working overseas or for tourism/ business find it rather shocking that MTN doesn't have a process to fix an illegal sim swap while you are overseas.
 
Last edited:
tridev said:
Regarding Capitec banking I phoned the call center today and tested the app and website and everything works

I asked the call center why did it work today and not yesterday for overseas IPs and they said "it was not working for everyone yesterday". I can only think that the way Capitec as a bank deals with DDoS is by blocking all overseas IPs
Click to expand...

Well many people here in SA reported the app as offline.

So I went to Capitec

Anyone see how to make future dated payments in the new app? Under Transact > Recurring/Future Dated?
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za
 
When I was subjected to an illegal number port last year (sorry, it wasn't a SIM swap as I thought earlier), my Cell C number was illegally ported to MTN. My phone started showing "No network connection /signal" soon after 6pm on a Monday night. I did not realise for 3-4 hours what this meant, but then got suspicious & phoned Cell C 24-hr customer service. They told me my number had been ported to MTN, and I had to wait until 8am the next morning to speak to the fraud dept when it opened. At exactly 8am I phoned, and was given the phone no. of MTN's fraud dept, which I phoned. I told them I had not requested the porting, never got a confirmation SMS, and wanted my number back. The illegal port was reversed in 30 minutes.

During the night, while I was waiting for Cell C's fraud dept to open the next morning, I phoned my bank's fraud dept, and froze my bank accounts. The bank suggested I only freeze access to my online banking account,which I did. They also said I should cancel all bank cards, but I could not, as I needed to do an urgent purchase the next day, and the thief did not have my cards, pins, or card numbers (the online banking site does not show the full numbers). About R300 had already been stolen by someone hacking into my bank account, but further theft was stopped by freezing of internet banking access. I was still able to use my bank cards and an ATM. Subsequently I had to go into a bank branch to unfreeze my internet banking access, change the cellphone number this sent OTPs to, etc. It took 3 hours.

I never did anything to cause this, eg open or answer phishing emails, give passwords and PINs to anyone else. I have a good, paid internet security programme on my computer, ;and never use public wifi. No matter how careful you are, it can still happen to you.

An option may be to speak to your bank, ask them: if you purchase a cheap cellphone where you are, preferably one you can use in South Africa afterwards, load your banking app, change OTP's at least for banking to that phone no. while you are travelling, you can use it for banking OTPs until you get back, and then you will have to change OTPs again to a South African Sim when you get back.

If you can't come right, it may be best, if possible for you, to return to South Africa as fast as you can. You will be able to sort this out once in South Africa. Partial or full identity theft is no joke. It is just as, or more serious, than s;omeone physically breaking into your home. If you have time, do internet searches on illegal SIM swops, Illegal number ports, and identity theft, to see what can happen to you if you don't stop this really fast.
 
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