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"Do not port" option?

steve_l
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I'm wondering if there is a way to mark your number as "do not port" with Public Mobile? There are several security concerns around porting your number to another carrier – it's not very hard for an attacker to impersonate you sufficiently enough to have another carrier request a port of your number to someone who isn't you. If someone can get ahold of your phone number they can then use that as a vector for other attacks (sms authentication mechanisms, call to confirm something, etc).

 

Does this option exist? Or at least the option to have extra confirmation steps taken when porting is requested? 

13 REPLIES 13

@mimmo Public's webform asks for name

In reality you do not need this (but it is impossible to initiate port on Public without it, which is where confusion is coming from I think)

 

Either way unless you are porting a landline to Public (or from Public to landline) the name rule is not very strict at all

 

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité
Is everyone saying that to port you dont need the account name?


@steve_l wrote:

 Where did you see the requirements for porting? Have a link?

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.cwta.ca/for-consumers/wireless-number-portability/#4

 

Only one piece of account information is needed along with the phone number.

 



 

@steve_l the rules for WNP are set far above Public

Even if Public wanted to make up their own rules doing so would fall afoul of legislation

 

Either way slamming (unauthorized transfer) is against rules and is easy to reverse if someone (eg your ex) decides to try and get your number

 

steve_l
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

So assuming someone is able to get ahold of my account number, name and phone number they can port it. This doesn't strike me as a super high bar in terms of security and is something that is normally printed directly on a statement (given, Public Mobile's statements are digital, so unless I'm tricked into giving someone my account number I guess I'm "safe"). 

 

The question still remains: can I put a note on my account to indicate "do not port" or "call this number if porting is requested"? 

Samianauman
Mayor / Maire

Screenshot_20170725-160317.png

** I am not a Mod, please do not include any private info in a private message to me.**

If you login to your self serve and click on change number then click on moving your wireless number and u will get a form where you need pin account number device imei alternate number and phone number. And you only need 2 things to provide out of 5 I think.
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steve_l
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

@Samianauman Where did you see the requirements for porting? Have a link?

 

These kinds of attacks are becoming more and more common, it would be nice to be able to lock things down.

 

Reports online are mostly from the US, but the lesson remains:

 

https://medium.com/@CodyBrown/how-to-lose-8k-worth-of-bitcoin-in-15-minutes-with-verizon-and-coinbas...

 

http://avc.com/2017/06/getting-hacked-lessons-learned/

Agreed with @kav2001c
I just recheck porting requirement you only need one out of those 3 options. It's pretty simple to port Any one number i guess.
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@mimmo you can port without name

Only one of the three (account number, PIN, or IMEI is required)

 

And even then you actually can bypass that as well 

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité
You actually only need phone number, account number, and account name.

If they can get your account number i think you have bigger problems because the only place you can find it is in self serve

kav2001c
Mayor / Maire

@steve_l there are protections against unauthorized transfer of your number 

 

Normally slamming is reported to CCTS but you can even escalate to CRTC if you wish

 

Samianauman
Mayor / Maire
It's not that simple when you request to port you just doesn't need a number you also need a account number and pin and phone number. Maybe it's easier to get someone number but it's bit hard to get someone pin or account number.
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