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NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#51

Post by tentacleuno »

kingcharles wrote: post #42

I just posted this in another thread... Also, don't let your mobile phone number expire and someone else get it. I can log in to the previous owner's TikTok account with just his number. I signed up for a food delivery service two days ago and it autofilled all the details with his full name and address for me. How many other sites let you log in with just a phone number? Asking for a friend...

> Also, don't let your mobile phone number expire and someone else get it.

How would you do this, then? I believe old numbers are kept for a certain time (6 months?) and then put back into the public pool. If we had a more technical solution (think IPv6 addresses, but for phone numbers) this shouldn't be an issue in theory. Of course, having to remember something resembling an IPv6 address to contact somebody would be a pain. I would say we could use a username system, but I believe we've seen the downsides of that way too many times already.

Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#52

Post by ghaff »

supernova87a wrote: post #6

I wonder if the following idea has occurred to anyone else? We have more and more kinds of accounts, financial products, online services, etc. that would benefit from some kind of real in-person verification at points in the process (initial application, maintenance, changes to account) that are imperfectly done with credit checks, questions/answers, logins, etc. We have Post Offices in nearly every corner of this co…

I'd just observe that we saw the opposite happening with COVID. Based on a couple experiences of my own I was chatting with a friend who runs gift-giving strategy for a major university. I made the comment that a lot of things that just had to be done in person with notaries etc. suddenly apparently didn't have to be any longer and she agreed.

While it's doubtless sometimes necessary, I'm generally a fan of not having to go into an office for money transfers and so forth. It's also worth remembering that this sort of thing may (normally) be pretty low overhead for a lot of us but isn't for e.g. people who aren't very mobile.

Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#53

Post by ghaff »

jjcm wrote: post #50
pjc50 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

cough national id scheme, anyone? Thinking of E-Estonia here.

It's long, long overdue. That said a national ID scheme has long been opposed by a vocal part of the Christian population in the states. It's association with the new testament's prophesy of the mark of the beast prevents many lawmakers from pushing forward a proposal, especially since 65% of Americans in 2019 identified as having a belief in some variety of Christianity[0]. The obvious reality here is that in the wa…

>social security numbers have been used instead

Historically that was sort of the case. I'd argue today that we mostly rely on state-issued IDs (especially but not necessarily driver's licenses) which are now overlaid with RealID requirements.

As a practical matter it's probably indistinguishable from what a federally-issued ID would be and I'm mostly content with not adding any more layers of identity verification than are really necessary. I'd probably oppose a push for a broadly required federal ID--although I have a passport (and a global entry card).

Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#55

Post by ews »

supernova87a wrote: post #6

I wonder if the following idea has occurred to anyone else? We have more and more kinds of accounts, financial products, online services, etc. that would benefit from some kind of real in-person verification at points in the process (initial application, maintenance, changes to account) that are imperfectly done with credit checks, questions/answers, logins, etc. We have Post Offices in nearly every corner of this co…

I thought about this too. My iteration of the idea is to have the USPS office to install a cert on a citizen's phone (upon verification in person) and make sure a cert is associated with one person only. This will allow easy and reliable online voting.

Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#56

Post by paulpauper »

I don't think people appreciate just how big the crypto fraud problem is, and how much bigger it will get.

Crypto is so big, to put it in perspective, the gambling sector worldwide was estimated to be worth roughly $265 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. That is just 2/3 the market cap of Ethereum alone.

Crypto is bigger than pretty anything right now. Bigger than pro sports. bigger than the entertainment industry. Only the tech, real estate, retail, and finance industries are bigger. But those are composed of thousands of companies.

Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#57

Post by hoofedear »

paulpauper wrote: post #56

I don't think people appreciate just how big the crypto fraud problem is, and how much bigger it will get. Crypto is so big, to put it in perspective, the gambling sector worldwide was estimated to be worth roughly $265 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. That is just 2/3 the market cap of Ethereum alone. Crypto is bigger than pretty anything right now. Bigger than pro sports. bigger than the entertainment industry. Only t…

It’s almost some sort of very large, round thing that is just growing and growing

I’m sure there’s a better term for it

Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#59

Post by dvt »

paulpauper wrote: post #56

I don't think people appreciate just how big the crypto fraud problem is, and how much bigger it will get. Crypto is so big, to put it in perspective, the gambling sector worldwide was estimated to be worth roughly $265 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. That is just 2/3 the market cap of Ethereum alone. Crypto is bigger than pretty anything right now. Bigger than pro sports. bigger than the entertainment industry. Only t…

SIM swapping has really nothing to do with crypto per se, people use it to steal identities/fiat all the time.

Crypto is big, but to be fair "just" Apple is bigger than crypto. Compared to the NYSE or Nasdaq, it's small, and when compared to forex (maybe a more apt comparison), it barely registers. Incidentally, I think this is why crypto's here to stay (probably forever): it's huge and growing, very popular, and the masses seem to like it. It's like the McDonalds of financial instruments. I don't think governments care to (or can) regulate it, so as long as we're paying taxes on gains, they will let it slide.

Re: NY Man Pleads Guilty in $20M SIM Swap Theft

#60

Post by jktogjfnn »

tentacleuno wrote: post #51
kingcharles wrote: post #42

I just posted this in another thread... Also, don't let your mobile phone number expire and someone else get it. I can log in to the previous owner's TikTok account with just his number. I signed up for a food delivery service two days ago and it autofilled all the details with his full name and address for me. How many other sites let you log in with just a phone number? Asking for a friend...

> Also, don't let your mobile phone number expire and someone else get it. How would you do this, then? I believe old numbers are kept for a certain time (6 months?) and then put back into the public pool. If we had a more technical solution (think IPv6 addresses, but for phone numbers) this shouldn't be an issue in theory. Of course, having to remember something resembling an IPv6 address to contact somebody would b…

> How would you do this

You port your number to a super-cheap carrier and keep paying for their lowest subscription, even if you don't need it anymore.

I payed for 5 years $5 per month to keep a number alive, even if I wasn't living anymore in the country that issued it.

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