SIM Swap — The ₹1 Crore Attack
SIM swapping is a simple social engineering attack that can give hackers access to your bank accounts, crypto wallets, and all 2FA-protected accounts.
How It Works
- Attacker gathers your personal info (OSINT, data breaches)
- Calls your mobile carrier pretending to be you
- Claims "lost phone" or "need new SIM"
- Convinces support agent to transfer your number to attacker's SIM
- Receives ALL your SMS — including OTPs
- Resets passwords on bank, email, crypto accounts
Real Cases
- 💰 $24 million stolen from crypto investor Michael Terpin
- 💰 ₹1.86 crore stolen from Indian businessman via SIM swap
- 💰 $100 million+ stolen across multiple SIM swap rings
- 💰 Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's Twitter hacked via SIM swap
Why India is Especially Vulnerable
- Aadhaar-linked SIM makes social engineering easier
- Telecom store employees can be bribed (₹500-2000)
- SMS-based 2FA is used by most Indian banks
- UPI transactions rely on phone number verification
Protection
- 🔒 Use app-based 2FA (Google Authenticator) instead of SMS
- 🔒 Set SIM lock PIN with your carrier
- 🔒 Enable port-out protection
- 🔒 Use hardware keys (YubiKey) for critical accounts
- 🔒 Keep personal info off social media
🔥 Learn to protect against SIM swaps at ONLY4YOU →