SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help • Hacker News Board

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#191

Post by thefreeman » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:33 PM UTC

mbauman wrote: post #98

CloudNetworking wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand your frustration, but I also think they have a point. What you're telling us is all based on your educated guesses as to how they might have pulled this. There are things that feel a bit weird and I'm guessing you have no evidence to prove them, such as the scammer shipping the real SIM back to Atlanta in time before you realise the issue. How did you realise the SIM card you were handed was fake? Couldn…

The SIM ICCID that I physically had in my hands upon return was different than the ICCID that ATT had on file for me. I also watched the dude do it right in front of me, but of course SIM cards are quite easy to palm. It was the "Tourist Services" kiosk and I bought a £20 Lebara card. He very kindly taped the ATT card down to the Lebara cardboard packaging, and I wasn't able to remove that tape without damaging it so…

Just playing devil's advocate, the ICCID on file would also be different if they had managed to compromise your account and change the sim associated with it.

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#192

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:34 PM UTC

jchw wrote: post #12

Anyone who wants to defend themselves, consider using U2F where you can and Google Advanced Protection. I just recently picked up a bluetooth security key because one is needed to log an iPhone into an account using advanced protection; there is no SMS backup loophole. The Titan key bundle comes with a bluetooth and USB key, which is enough to get started, though frankly you probably want a couple additional backup k…

[deleted]

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#193

Post by signal11 » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:35 PM UTC

ineedasername wrote: post #84

Google really fails hard in the face of providing support when issues like this occur. The average person has to try various automated account recovery options which, as in the author's case, are readily changeable the moment the account is compromised, rendering them somewhat useless, and then users are out of luck. It's a situation that is mind-boggling. Users as asked to place a significant chunk of their digital…

I believe Google does offer support to consumers via Google One (where available), it’s priced very reasonably too.

One of Google One’s selling points Google advertises is phone based access to Google experts.

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#194

Post by crazygringo » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:36 PM UTC

> We pay for Google Drive, Google Fi, and Google Play Movies so I was hoping there would be some level of customer service for paying customers. There are no phone numbers available for customers who pay for services or those who only use free services.

I pay for Drive (now part of Google One) and they advertise free phone support with it. I've never used it, and it turns out it's not a phone number you can call, but rather you request a call from them:

https://support.google.com/googleone/contact/googleone_c2c?h...

So there is a level of support for paying customers... at least in theory. I haven't heard of anyone's experiences with it in practice, however.

Curious if anyone here has tried Google One support, and whether their reps have the ability to escalate issues, the way G Suite reps can?

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#195

Post by throw0101a » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:37 PM UTC

daphneokeefe wrote: post #147

jchw wrote: post #12

Anyone who wants to defend themselves, consider using U2F where you can and Google Advanced Protection. I just recently picked up a bluetooth security key because one is needed to log an iPhone into an account using advanced protection; there is no SMS backup loophole. The Titan key bundle comes with a bluetooth and USB key, which is enough to get started, though frankly you probably want a couple additional backup k…

What is your contingency plan for when that physical key is lost, stolen or damaged?

Have multiple keys/tokens?

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#196

Post by ineedasername » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:37 PM UTC

iwasakabukiman wrote: post #145

ineedasername wrote: post #84

Google really fails hard in the face of providing support when issues like this occur. The average person has to try various automated account recovery options which, as in the author's case, are readily changeable the moment the account is compromised, rendering them somewhat useless, and then users are out of luck. It's a situation that is mind-boggling. Users as asked to place a significant chunk of their digital…

> I would even not mind something like one-time payments for support calls, for example pay $50 for a service call to get assistance in a case like this. I can just see the people raging about this on social media now. “Google charged me $50 to fix an issue with my account!” “Google won’t give me any help unless I pay them! Extortion artists!” Etc.

Sure, people would complain. But they complain now when these issues happen. I'd rather a scenario where people complain but the problems are getting fixed. It's not completely unreasonable that Google offers low/no support for free products. It is unreasonable that they don't have any way to pay for help when there are serious problems.

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#197

Post by cevn » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:39 PM UTC

thom wrote: post #187

In the space of the afternoon after reading this article, I removed SMS 2FA from all my accounts, installed Authy, added all my accounts to it, found out Authy is also insecure[0], reconfigured it to be less insecure, and basically despaired. My solution going forward will be to spend all of my money each month so there's nothing to steal, and have a terrible reputation online that therefore can't be ruined. [0] http…

> My solution going forward will be to spend all of my money each month so there's nothing to steal, and have a terrible reputation online that therefore can't be ruined.

Way ahead of you there buddy

(sorry, I know, no jokes..)

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#198

Post by oasisbob » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:40 PM UTC

rb808 wrote: post #31

The fact that ACH is slow is a feature not a bug. Remember that when people want to speed up money transfers. > After a couple of days, our bank reversed the $25,000 charge and told us that the fraud department caught the ACH withdrawal before it was fully processed so that neither my family nor the bank lost this money forever.

But also, the US regulatory environment is very friendly towards individuals when it comes to fraudulent electronic transfers, regardless of how quickly they execute.

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#199

Post by bradstewart » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:41 PM UTC

daphneokeefe wrote: post #147

jchw wrote: post #12

Anyone who wants to defend themselves, consider using U2F where you can and Google Advanced Protection. I just recently picked up a bluetooth security key because one is needed to log an iPhone into an account using advanced protection; there is no SMS backup loophole. The Titan key bundle comes with a bluetooth and USB key, which is enough to get started, though frankly you probably want a couple additional backup k…

What is your contingency plan for when that physical key is lost, stolen or damaged?

I have two. One stays with me, the other in a safe.

Which is legitimately a pain in the ass to register, manage, keep in sync, etc but I only use it for a few very important accounts--Google being one of them.

Re: SIM swap horror story: I've lost decades of data and Google won't help

#200

Post by rikkus » Mon, Jun 17, 2019, 5:41 PM UTC

8ytecoder wrote: post #111

ineedasername wrote: post #84

Google really fails hard in the face of providing support when issues like this occur. The average person has to try various automated account recovery options which, as in the author's case, are readily changeable the moment the account is compromised, rendering them somewhat useless, and then users are out of luck. It's a situation that is mind-boggling. Users as asked to place a significant chunk of their digital…

This is why I panicked when they announced they won't sync Google Photos with Google Drive anymore. With the sync, I can setup one of my computers to constantly download the photos and then copy it onto a local backup and an online backup. If my Google Account gets locked - I'll just copy the photos into something else and move on with my life. They removed that saying it's confusing to users - all the while it was a…

Would you mind elaborating on your iCloud setup to handle this please?