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A new type of scam worries telecommunications companies, as criminals have managed to duplicate users’ SIM cards, managing to gain access to their bank accounts and business houses, as happened to Cecilia Guerra.
From one moment to another, Cecilia’s cell phone was without access to telephone networks or the Internet. This was the first indication that something was wrong. Because of this, He asked a friend to share the internet with him, at which point notifications from his banks began to arrive, saying that he had logged in from another device.
Cecilia immediately contacted her mobile phone company to block the SIM card. Nevertheless this was the first barrier.
“I call Entel to ask that they please block this chip because they made me this matter that appears that they changed the chip and everything. Nobody can tell me how they deliver this to another person and they are not going to do it. People who answer you when they have an answer cut you off “, said the victim, emphasizing that “They gave these people around five hours to keep doing whatever it took with my phone.”
SIM exchange
According to experts, Cecilia was the victim of a crime called Sim exchange, and which consists of the impersonation of the mobile phone card or chip
As Commissioner Danic Maldonado, PDI’s Cybercrime Brigade explained, “this crime is basically related to deception, where an unknown third person, using a kind of usurpation of name impersonates me, managing to obtain a record from a telephone company to request a change of chip “.
In this sense, the technology director of Asimov Consultores, Nicolás Silva, pointed out that “the cell phone’s SIM card is the one that allows calls to your number, SMS messages, etc. Therefore, then, Through this same mechanism they are able to authenticate in different systems“
In Cecilia’s case, a criminal obtained a fraudulent copy of her SIM card and installed it on a phone different, for later download and activate the applications of banks and retail companies.
“You tell me that you have made two cash advances of five million pesos each and they were delivered by cash in an effective way, in addition to purchases in high-end phone technology. They bought dollars, I am already in more than 20 million pesos. There was more than one person with my identity, there was a Cecilia in Paris, another in Ripley and another in Falabella, in Afex“said the victim
The chip lock and Entel’s response
Finally, Cecilia had to personally carry out the blockade at an Entel branch, where she said she was asked “for a fingerprint, a driver’s license, an identity card, a lot of things to be able to block the chip of the person who was misusing it. Instead they gave him a chip anybody “.
Through a statement Entel stated that it is “internally investigating this specific case to have all the antecedents“and that it is continuously implementing improvements to strengthen the existing security protocols and face the crimes that are appearing.”
According to Alfie Ulloa, executive president of Atelmo, “telecommunications companies have different mechanisms to prove the identity of their users and also protocols for changing cards. However, the cell phone as an authentication method should only be used by companies that understand the risks to which they and their customers are exposed. “
In this sense, the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications developed a protocol to increase security in the delivery of SIM cards, and thus protect user information.
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