The cell number had been stolen

[clarahong]

Hello,

I suddenly received the message at 3:37 pm today ( April 1st, 2020) from #4800 as follows...

" Hey, it's Public Mobile. We received a request to cancel your account and transfer your phone number to another carrier. If you requested the transfer, no action is required. If you did not make this request, please immediately open our chatbox via this rink bit.ly/2GF1pHW and type in "unauthorized port". This will put you in touch with our moderator team. Free msg. " when I was at home.

   Right after this message, I got two text messages from #438-***-**** that " hey" and "Hey math" and then my phone stop working. I did not know what was happening because the situations occurred very quickly. To make matters worse, the fraud logged in my bank account with verification code from my cell phone number and send all my money in the bank account to someone by using E-transfers twice.

   I went to Public Mobile at Walmart in Squamish BC and explained my situation to help me. I wanted to check my cell phone information right after the fraud. However, the staff said that he could not help to access my information although I was there with my picture ID and sim card. It does not make sense at all!

I can not do anything as the owner of my number? Nevertheless, how my cell phone number could be transferred by someone without my ID and permission even though I was at home with my cell phone and my sim card was inside my phone??? If you are a Public Mobile user, does it reasonable and make sense???

   I want to know how this phenomenon happened without any of my permission and how you will solve this serious problem. Please contact me ASAP via E-mail because I do not have my cell number now as you know. 

Thank you.

[CannonFodder]

Yeah, port protection was one of the things I mentioned in the recent contest, that PM, and Telus, as a whole, need to implement - this kind of thing needs to be stopped, ESPECIALLY when it seems like it ought to be relatively simple to make it so the owner of the number has to give permission, rather than scramble to try and stop it before it happens.

[Anonymous]

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@DOA wrote:

Hey, Public Mobile, forget the contests and stuff and come up with a way to protect us from this stuff.

How hard can it be to come up with some sort of verification request before a port?

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Yup. They even have a mechanism where you can reply to a text saying unsubscribe. Re-purpose it and use it as that last line of confirmation. Not useful in the case of phone theft but if they would just bl@@dy wait for the reply and NOT port by default then we'd be getting somewhere.

Or they even have an interactive survey. Re-purpose that to ask for a confirmation.

[DOA]

Hey, Public Mobile, forget the contests and stuff and come up with a way to protect us from this stuff.

How hard can it be to come up with some sort of verification request before a port?

[Pawprints1986]

I also would love official port protection... Especially if this scam has been on the rise, we legit customers deserve it. I've made name changes but is it enough ? I don't list  any info anywhere that I don't have to. Many places have my name but that's it. No cell number or address on Facebook, Facebook email is my old school one with nothing financial linked to it.... But if scammers want to scam bad enough they'll find a way... But in this case for a phone number, why? What's the point?

Are you supposed to reply directly to that text should we receive one? If your number is falsely ported, can you get it back? 

[clarahong]

Thank you for giving me a lot of valuable information. Your all knowledgable advice and suggestions are helping me now. I really appreciate it!

I let the local police officers know this criminal situation and now, the Moderator Team has contacted me to try to take action to solve this serious problem. I hope that my phone number is protected from a port out. 

I will keep following up what is happening next. 

[geopublic]

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@Lar wrote:

@geopublic   I always wondered about some people on the forum saying they can't remember their account password or PIN and anything else and being directed to the mods for help.

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@Lar  Yes, happens multiple times every day including today. ☹️

[Lar]

@geopublic   I always wondered about some people on the forum saying they can't remember their account password or PIN and anything else and being directed to the mods for help.

[geopublic]

@techdino  Not all carriers/providers are the same. Hats off to VOIP.ms in my opinion, they support most 2 FA methods to help secure your account. They also allow you to set alerts anytime someone accesses  your account or makes changes to your account and to top it off VOIP.ms also provides a Port Lock feature that the user controls. If all providers provided similar features then this would help greatly in reducing the amount of incidents.

Sim-jacking relies on a weak link to gain the required information. If for example your email gets compromised and you archive all your emails then more than likely it's game over.

If on the other hand you protect your accounts with strong passwords and good online hygiene then the weak link might be the provider. From my observation on this forum for the past year it appears to me that PM might have a couple of things that can be considered weak links that they need to improve.

1. A moderator that will (incorrectly) give account access to a third party because they were able to convince them on how their phone was stolen by aliens and also that they currently have a mild case of amnesia and can't remember.
2. PM systems appear to be dated and might be vulnerable to outside threats more than others.

That is why if PM cannot follow the VOIP.ms lead then they should at least implement a Port lock PIN  feature to anyone who wishes to enable it with understanding that if they cant remember/provide the PIN to unlock their port then they can't port out their number.

[darlicious]

@techdino  Change your name subtlety or drastically in your account. A number port will fail if you do not have the correct name, phone number and account number.

[Lar]

@JoyLuckRight now PM policy is to leave the barn door open even after the horses are leaving or to put it another way they are not doing anything to protect the customer.  PM sending a text message saying if we don't hear from you soon then we are porting your number is just helping the criminals.  Shame on Public Mobile. Ok rant over. Cheers

[techdino]

Kind of wish they would have some more security features at Public Mobile. 

[JoyLuck]

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@techdino wrote:

This is a problem with every carrier. I know some carriers down in the states offer port protection i.e. you have to call in to authorize a port out. Wondering if Public Mobile has something similar. 

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PM does not have port protection/blocking for "PM" customers.

PM is owned by Telus and if you are a "Telus" (not PM) customer they offer port protection, but you have to ask for it to be put on. It is not automatic with Telus only customers.

[techdino]

This is a problem with every carrier. I know some carriers down in the states offer port protection i.e. you have to call in to authorize a port out. Wondering if Public Mobile has something similar. 

[Anonymous]

Deaf ears @kselmak . That and little to no budget from the mother corp to do any improvements.

Of course there HAS to be some personal responsibility on the part of the customer. I don't know what all they included in their OP but even now we likely have a name. One doesn't need much to steal an account.

The company (all of them) are basically aiding and abetting a crime.

But it always astonishes me how much personal information people expose of themselves.

[geopublic]

@clarahong  Google simjacking for more information. Sounds like you have been the victim of identity theft so your priority is to secure your bank accounts and credit cards and regain control of your email address ASAP.

This is a perfect example of why not to post personal info on this forum and also to always select strong passwords for all your online access accounts.

[kselmak]

@Alan_K 

I think public mobile should seriously consider requesting some kind of input from the user before releasing the number as opposed to verifying that short time passes without complaint. 

Those who want to port should be ready to provide it, that shouldn't affect the 4 hours port time. But those who are not porting are not ready to provide input, I've seen it happen while they were asleep.

Just a suggestion

Thanks

[darlicious]

@clarahong  As soon as you get up today you need to call Equifax and Transunion the two Canadian credit reporting agencies and place 7 year fraud alerts under your name. This will ensure that if anyone tries to apply for credit under your name they are required by law to contact you and get your permission/verify that you are indeed applying for credit. If they can't reach you or you deny its you the credit application is  turned down. Leave a secure number like a parent's until you can update your file with your number. Contact your banks fraud department and discuss any extra layers of security that can be applied to your accounts such as code words and do the same with all your credit cards and financial accounts. I have all email and phone contact removed from my accounts and verification codes can only be mailed to me, phone banking is blocked and tellers are required to ask for two pieces of id before performing any in branch transactions. Be vigilant....i had a new teller not ask me for id last week even after prompting him. I reported it immediately  and he was to recieve extra training as the bank is liable to ensure my finances are secure.

I feel for your financial nightmare but take the steps now to protect yourself from it happening to you ever again. When you get your phone number and account restored with public mobileslightly or entirely change your name in your account so your number can't be fraudulently ported out unless someone knows you are HRH Diana Spencer Mountbatten Windsor.......

[popping]

@clarahong 

If someone got your PM account number, your phone number and your name on your PM account, anyone can port your number to another provider with these 3 pieces of information.