PM Account Hacked and Service moved to new SIM

[Jeffrey_martin]

HI All, I desperately need some help. Earlier today, I noticed my phone was no longer recieving texts. I also tried making a call and was unable. I logged into my account and noticed my plan had also been changed, which I did not do. Im looking at the last 4 digits of the sim Card register to my account and I noticed it does not match my physical SIM Card. I believe my account was hacked, and someone moved my service to a new SIM, and then changed my plan. How can I fix this? I was able to change my password to my PM account but i have no idea how to get my Cell service back

[dabr]

---

@Joanne57 wrote:

I can’t get into my self serve account it’s been hacked also my email is hacked so I can’t even reset pass word ...help

---

@Joanne57   You can contact moderators either via SIMon chatbot ? mark bottom right of your screen or private message Moderator_Team here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

You should also immediately contact all your financial  and CC services and change your login and passwords that may also be affected due to your account and email getting compromised.

[Joanne57]

I can’t get into my self serve account it’s been hacked also my email is hacked so I can’t even reset pass word ...help

[Jeffrey_martin]

No, i have an android, always have. I assume the hacker had an iPhone since my friends and family who have iphones were sending messaged to a iMessage account

[maximum_gato]

@LurganIeUk 

Actually the hacker only needs to hack the email then acquire account access via the forgot password link.

[geopublic]

No, he just followed don't have the iPhone anymore option and entered the phone number.

[LurganIeUk]

---

@Jeffrey_martin wrote:

I was able to register my number from iMessage. Followed this link here;

https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/ 

Within minutes i was able to receive texts from Apples user again

---

Soooo you had an iPhone then??  Not Android???

[Jeffrey_martin]

I was able to register my number from iMessage. Followed this link here;

https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/ 

Within minutes i was able to receive texts from Apples user again

[gpixel]

@Jeffrey_martin I would call apple and explain the situation that you've been sim jacked and to ask them to remove your number from that apple account. give them some info to verify that this happened to you

[LurganIeUk]

---

@maximum_gato wrote:

@LurganIeUk 

Thats very helpful but can @Jeffrey_martin remove his phone number from the sim jackers apple id? The OP has always been an android user vs his family and the sim jacker......being iphone users.

---

No...

Although there might be some Apple gurus out there that might have some FIND MY IPHONE knowledge to find where the hackers iPhone is.

If OP gave posted his old number and if hacker isn’t bright enough to change number or is a pro at doing more damage to OP as the new illicit owner of the number WE COULD ALL CALL THE HACKER AND APPEAL FOR HE/SHE TO RELINQUISH THE ACCOUNT. 

I just don’t get how some one would know the OPs email address, email password or PM password along with PM registered name, PIN etc.  Maybe a friend? Has OP called the hacker? 

[LurganIeUk]

iMessage requires the device to be logged on to an iCloud account. I assume OP is a non Apple user....no iPad, iPhone, Mac or iPod. The hacker may have an iPhone and had registered the OPs number on hackers phone for use in iMessage. So any of OPs friends and family that uses the hacked number the texts will go to the hacker. You can also send iMessage to a registered email address too. So I assume the OP never had a phone number or email address set up for iMessage. And that OP has a new phone number. Apple products can know how to send a text to a non Apple product.  iMessage shows in blue......non Apple shows in green on an sending iPhone. OP should receive texts to new number. 

[maximum_gato]

@LurganIeUk 

Thats very helpful but can @Jeffrey_martin remove his phone number from the sim jackers apple id? The OP has always been an android user vs his family and the sim jacker......being iphone users.

[LurganIeUk]

---

@Jeffrey_martin wrote:

another issue that has come up; My family are iPhone users. I have always been android. My cell service is restored, but when they try to contact me, it tries to send in imessage, and I never receive the text. I assume this is because the hacker had a iphone. I dont know exactly know how imessage works, but it appears they linked my cell number to their Apple Account. Do i have any way to correct that?

---

You can de register. 

Deregister iMessage on your iPhone or online

If you switched to a non-Apple phone and aren't getting SMS/MMS messages, you might need to deregister iMessage.

Deregister iMessage on your iPhone

If you still have your iPhone, you can deregister iMessage with these steps:

1. If you transferred your SIM card from your iPhone to a non-Apple phone, put it back in your iPhone.
2. Make sure that you're connected to your cellular data network.
3. Tap Settings > Messages and turn off iMessage.
   
   

Deregister iMessage online

If you don't have access to your iPhone, you can deregister iMessage online. After you complete deregistration, your phone number is removed from iMessage services. You should be able to receive text messages right away but it might take a few hours for some Apple devices to recognize that you're not using iMessage when they send you a message.

If someone sends an iMessage to your Apple ID, you'll get it on your other Apple devices. If someone sends a text to your phone number, you'll get the message as an SMS/MMS only on your phone.

[maximum_gato]

@Jeffrey_martin 

You can report the fraud to the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre and to Uber (they will have video from the vehicle) but i think youll be disappointed with the police response. I tracked down and acquired video of the thief who stole my purse and nearly my identity using my visa card and they would not even take a police report and were not interested in obtaining the video.... perhaps the montreal police will handle it differently than the VPD but only my banks fraud department showed any interest.....but didnt take the video evidence either.

[Jeffrey_martin]

Yeah, im going to. Just waiting to get the details from Public Mobile. Hopefully they can trace the IP address. These scammers need to be stopped. Just think about all the elderly Canadians that wouldnt have known what to do in this situation.My parents are not tech savy at all, and it probably would have been days before they realized something was wrong

[popping]

@Jeffrey_martin 

You should report your SIM jacking to police and provide the Uber receipt so that your local police and contact Montreal police to look for the scammer.

[Jeffrey_martin]

Im waiting on PM to provide some details about the individual who made the change. The Moderator who was assisting me was unable to provide those details. They said another department will be in contact with me. I believe the hacker is in Montreal as I received a Uber receipt for a ride there ( Which i clearly didnt take. Im in a different province)

[maximum_gato]

@Jeffrey_martin 

An android phone cant recieve imessages. An iphone user has to change their settings to send either SMS or MMS (or both) to android users.

Edit: @LurganIeUk  can you help shed any light on this issue?

@Jeffrey_martin 

If the fraudster has linked their apple id to your number then you have a way of tracing them....this is low priority for the police but your banks fraud department might be interested in that information.

[gblackma]

@Jeffrey_martin  Get them to enable data, sms and mms and try sending a message again to you. Stay safe. 

[Jeffrey_martin]

another issue that has come up; My family are iPhone users. I have always been android. My cell service is restored, but when they try to contact me, it tries to send in imessage, and I never receive the text. I assume this is because the hacker had a iphone. I dont know exactly know how imessage works, but it appears they linked my cell number to their Apple Account. Do i have any way to correct that?

[geopublic]

@Jeffrey_martin  Only someone who has access to your selfserve would be able to swap SIMs.

If your account wasn't compromised then another possibility is that the change occurred from within maybe due to human error.

There should be a log of when and from where the change was made. I would ask PM to provide you that info.

[Jeffrey_martin]

My email account was compromised because its the same email used to sign into PM self Service. Once they switched my service to a new sim card, they had control of incoming texts. So they clicked the 'Forget Password' option on my outlook account which sent the hacker a text to reset my emails password! Once they had access to my email they basically had access to everything else. So I would like to know how my PM password was breached

[gblackma]

@Jeffrey_martin your number was never ported. Some one gained access to your self service account and switched your SIM from within it. 

Curious, that they reestablished service to the original SIM. I wonder if this happens if you could just use the switch sim card option within your self service account to switch it back. Stay safe.

[maximum_gato]

@Jeffrey_martin 

Did they port out your number? It sounds like the new scam is to simply change the sim card and access to your account while the fraudsters attempt to gain access to your financial accounts. This avoids any notification from the mobile provider informing you of a port in progress and have you initiated it? The bigger question is how did your email get compromised that allowed them to gain access to your account and change the sim card?

[Anonymous]

---

@Jeffrey_martin wrote:

Moderator Oana was able to restore my service to my original SIM Card. I still have some outstanding issues, such as charges from where they changed my Plan. I asked them if they can correct that aswell. I find it very troubling how someone was able to port out my service to a new SIM Card with little to No security checks. It appears to be a common scam happening in Canada this year. is PM doing anything to combat this? This seems to be a huge loop hole with the self service portal

---

A lot of it is on you. Your username here might be your real name. Not a good idea. Maybe you have an easy to guess password. Or you maybe you posted your number somewhere.

I agree though...while you should have received a text saying that a port was imminent...it absolutely should wait for a final confirmation rather than just going ahead and doing it.

[Jeffrey_martin]

Moderator Oana was able to restore my service to my original SIM Card. I still have some outstanding issues, such as charges from where they changed my Plan. I asked them if they can correct that aswell. I find it very troubling how someone was able to port out my service to a new SIM Card with little to No security checks. It appears to be a common scam happening in Canada this year. is PM doing anything to combat this? This seems to be a huge loop hole with the self service portal

[maximum_gato]

@Jeffrey_martin 

3 business days to restore your account? Are they putting your original sim card back into the account? Or to ensure the security of your account? This is the longest ive heard it take to return an account and restore service to the original owner unless theres other issues you are unaware of coming into play.....

[Jeffrey_martin]

I get another response from them saying it will take 3 business days. This is unbelievable.  

[gblackma]

@Jeffrey_martin go to a walmart or Real Canadian Superstore or another local store buy a sim card. Bring it back home and switch it from within your self service account.  Stay safe 

Once you have done that.  Take your phone off of lost/ stolen, turn the phone off, switch the sims in the phone and restart it.  You should now have service.

[Jeffrey_martin]

This is getting ridiculous. PM mods are being no help. They allowed my account to be ported to a new SIM, but they wont help me restore my service. Im beyond frustrated right now. They keep asking for a phone number to contact me. I cant provide a phone number since I only have a Cell phone, which they allowed to be ported out. So I sign up for a virtual number with text now but they wont accept that.  😠

[geopublic]

@popping  I was referring to email

 As far as banking goes I don't use 2FA.