This website collects cookies to deliver better user experience. Cookie Policy
Accept
Sign In
The Wall Street Publication
  • Home
  • Trending
  • U.S
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Real Estate
    • Markets
    • Personal Finance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Style
    • Arts
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
Reading: Verizon’s TracFone Customers Complain of Phone-Number Thefts
Share
The Wall Street PublicationThe Wall Street Publication
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • Home
  • Trending
  • U.S
  • World
  • Politics
  • Business
    • Business
    • Economy
    • Real Estate
    • Markets
    • Personal Finance
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
    • Lifestyle
    • Style
    • Arts
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
© 2024 The Wall Street Publication. All Rights Reserved.
The Wall Street Publication > Blog > Tech > Verizon’s TracFone Customers Complain of Phone-Number Thefts
Tech

Verizon’s TracFone Customers Complain of Phone-Number Thefts

Editorial Board Published January 26, 2022
Share
Verizon’s TracFone Customers Complain of Phone-Number Thefts
SHARE

Attackers have commandeered thousands of TracFone customers’ phone numbers in recent weeks, forcing new owner Verizon Communications Inc. VZ -3.55% to improve safeguards less than two months after it took over the prepaid wireless provider.

Contents
Newsletter Sign-upTechnology

TracFone offers prepaid wireless service under several brands, including Straight Talk, Total Wireless and its namesake brand. Some customers of Straight Talk said they found their phone lines suddenly disconnected around the December holidays.

“We were recently made aware of bad actors gaining access to a limited number of customer accounts and, in some cases, fraudulently transferring, or porting out, mobile telephone numbers to other carriers,” TracFone said in a notice posted on its website this month.

In some cases, customers said they discovered their lines had been moved without their permission to Metro, a unit of T-Mobile US Inc. A T-Mobile spokeswoman said the company investigated and found “no fraud or data breach of any sort” on its side. The company added that such unauthorized transfers “are unfortunately an industrywide issue.”


Newsletter Sign-up

Technology

A weekly digest of tech reviews, headlines, columns and your questions answered by WSJ’s Personal Tech gurus.


Verizon, which acquired TracFone in late November in a $6.25 billion deal, said it had added security protections to the recently acquired services to prevent such fraudulent transfers. For instance, the prepaid operators will now send customers a text message notification when a transfer request is made.

A Verizon spokeswoman said the attack appeared to affect about 6,000 TracFone customers, a fraction of Verizon’s roughly 24 million prepaid lines. “We have no reason to think that this was caused by anybody on the inside,” the spokeswoman said.

“You’ve got the bad actors out there constantly trying to find points of weakness,” Matt Ellis, Verizon’s finance chief, said Tuesday in an interview. “We’ve addressed that weakness.”

The fix came too late for Enid Hagerty, an information-technology project manager in Michigan who noticed on Christmas Eve that her PIN-protected Total Wireless account was no longer under her control. The independent contractor had to tell clients in an email not to rely on the phone number until the problem could be worked out.

“My blood pressure was in my eyeballs. I was so furious I wasn’t getting the answers,” she said. “That was my lifeline to everything for 20 years.”

She said she later regained control of the number but is using a different service provider.

Other customers of various TracFone brands said unknown attackers appeared to use their commandeered phone numbers to target cryptocurrency accounts.

Control of a mobile phone line can be an attractive entry point for scammers looking to break into a victim’s bank account. Cryptocurrency wallets secured with mobile-phone authentication are another common target.

A 2020 Princeton University study of identity-verification measures among five prepaid cellphone carriers—including Verizon and TracFone—found all of the providers “used insecure authentication challenges that could be easily subverted by attackers.”

The Federal Communications Commission last year began accepting public comments to help shape rules aimed at preventing malicious takeovers of cellphone numbers through SIM swapping and port-out fraud.

It isn’t yet clear who is responsible for the TracFone attack, said Allison Nixon, chief research officer at information-security company Unit 221B. But she said that the stories from victims targeted in the attack fit a pattern that is often caused by the work of a small group of well-practiced phone-number thieves.

“We’re at the stage where we’ve bred superbugs at this point,” she said. “I’m watching them become more mature and there are new people coming into this community and learning their ways.”

Write to Drew FitzGerald at [email protected]

Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

TAGGED:Tech NewsWall Street Publication
Share This Article
Twitter Email Copy Link Print
Previous Article A Jerk-Free Guide to Snowblowing A Jerk-Free Guide to Snowblowing
Next Article Mattel Wins Disney Princess Toy Deal, Joining Elsa of ‘Frozen’ With Barbie Mattel Wins Disney Princess Toy Deal, Joining Elsa of ‘Frozen’ With Barbie

Editor's Pick

Emman Atienza Reason for Demise: Social Media Star Passes Away at 19

Emman Atienza Reason for Demise: Social Media Star Passes Away at 19

Studying Time: 2 minutes Beloved influencer Emman Atienza has been discovered lifeless in Los Angeles. She was simply 19 years…

By Editorial Board 2 Min Read
Kirill Dmitriev’s Vision: The Russia-Alaska Tunnel as a Geostrategic Imperative
Kirill Dmitriev’s Vision: The Russia-Alaska Tunnel as a Geostrategic Imperative

Executive Summary: A Strategic Announcement In a landmark social media post dated…

6 Min Read
Oakland-born former Raiders RB Martin dies at 36; trigger ‘unconfirmed,’ household says
Oakland-born former Raiders RB Martin dies at 36; trigger ‘unconfirmed,’ household says

By Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Occasions TAMPA, Fla.— Doug Martin, whose mix…

4 Min Read

Oponion

Fats Joe Confesses to ’30, 40′ Food regimen Pepsi Drinks Each Day

Fats Joe Confesses to ’30, 40′ Food regimen Pepsi Drinks Each Day

Studying Time: 3 minutes Fats Joe may not dwell as…

July 26, 2025

One more out-of-touch Republican spins dropping Medicaid as a great factor

Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma…

June 5, 2025

Caribbean Issues: Exploring the brand new pope’s Black Caribbean ancestry

Caribbean Issues is a weekly collection…

May 17, 2025

You gained’t imagine who’s siding with Democrats on well being care

Predictably, Democrats have made Inexpensive Care…

October 8, 2025

Former Coinbase Employee Charged in Alleged Insider-Trading Scheme

Federal authorities brought the first-ever cryptocurrency…

July 21, 2022

You Might Also Like

Astronomers Have Found Earth’s Newest Quasilunar Moon
Tech

Astronomers Have Found Earth’s Newest Quasilunar Moon

The Earth has simply added its seventh confirmed quasilunar moon. It's 2025 PN7, a small Apollo-type asteroid detected in August…

3 Min Read
This Upgraded SteelSeries Gaming Headset Is  Off
Tech

This Upgraded SteelSeries Gaming Headset Is $80 Off

On the earth of high-end gaming headsets, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Professional Wi-fi (8/10, WIRED Recommends) stands out with a…

3 Min Read
In Orbit You Need to Gradual Right down to Velocity Up
Tech

In Orbit You Need to Gradual Right down to Velocity Up

In the event you watch sci-fi motion pictures, you’d suppose that flying a spaceship is rather like driving a barely…

2 Min Read
The Dell Tower Plus Is a Good-looking Prebuilt PC That Can Deal with Work and Play
Tech

The Dell Tower Plus Is a Good-looking Prebuilt PC That Can Deal with Work and Play

I like the I/O on the entrance panel. You get three USB-A ports (5 Gbps), in addition to a 10-Gbps…

3 Min Read
The Wall Street Publication

About Us

The Wall Street Publication, a distinguished part of the Enspirers News Group, stands as a beacon of excellence in journalism. Committed to delivering unfiltered global news, we pride ourselves on our trusted coverage of Politics, Business, Technology, and more.

Company

  • About Us
  • Newsroom Policies & Standards
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Careers
  • Media & Community Relations
  • WP Creative Group
  • Accessibility Statement

Contact

  • Contact Us
  • Contact Customer Care
  • Advertise
  • Licensing & Syndication
  • Request a Correction
  • Contact the Newsroom
  • Send a News Tip
  • Report a Vulnerability

Term of Use

  • Digital Products Terms of Sale
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Settings
  • Submissions & Discussion Policy
  • RSS Terms of Service
  • Ad Choices

© 2024 The Wall Street Publication. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?