As coordinator of the cybersecurity awareness program here at MRU, I often have colleagues call me with their own personal tales of horror. One of the more recent ones involved a Port-out-scam. Here is a their tale, written in their own words…

Until recently, identity theft was definitely something that we never thought could happen to us. It’s something that we warned our grandparents, our parents and even our security-relaxed friends about. But we were totally safe, or so we thought.

Through this experience our lives have definitely changed forever. We have learned a great deal and are now more aware, and will be more vigilant. It was shocking to discover how easy it might be to lose everything. 

Upon landing at the airport in Calgary at 2 AM  following a holiday early in January, my boyfriend (for privacy we will call him James) turned his phone on to discover that he had no carrier service. We didn’t think it would be anything serious and joked about something being wrong with his last payment. 

The next morning James called Telus and a Customer Service Agent informed him that he had ported his number out to Bell on Tuesday, to which he quickly replied that he had been out of the country, so that was impossible. After some convincing that this action was not taken by James, Telus quickly, and easily, ported the number back from Bell. We knew at this point that something was very wrong. He was also unable to get into his Microsoft Outlook email account; his password was denied.

Once James had his number back, he was able to use his phone (with SMS two-step authentication) to reset his password and get into his email accounts, where we quickly realized the horrifying truth that his identity was compromised. Someone had accessed his email account with his phone number, changed the password, and taken over.  James’s email account is connected to everything: PayPal, Amazon, personal & joint banking, investments, taxes, etcetera. I am sure you can imagine the anxiety James and I felt in that moment of realization.

You’re probably thinking that James did something to be a target. He must have been lenient with his security questions, or displayed some weakness with online purchases or social media. We have gone over everything meticulously to try to figure this out, and with the help of many people, our conclusion is that he actually did nothing wrong. All the hackers needed to access his email was his phone number. He is not a prominent person and does not hold a prominent position, so not your typical target according to experts. Further, he is very private and careful, with the strongest security settings on his social media accounts where he is also conscious about everything he posts, and any business he does online shopping with.

Next came the long process of regaining control…. cancelling credit cards, bank accounts, informing all business and friends of the identity theft…setting up security watches on James’ Social Insurance Number through various government services…..hours of waiting on hold, explaining the situation and the frustrating experience of having to convince people of the seriousness of the situation.

We talked to Calgary Police Service (CPS), and while they made some good suggestions of things to change, credit checks to put in place, it was also frustrating that there was nothing they could do. Because no physical property was actually taken there will not be an investigation. We were also informed that we should maintain a close eye on all of James’ accounts for at least six to eight years as we don’t truly know what information the hackers obtained and they may resurface at a later date. 

Microsoft Outlook support was useless because the same security measures that should help in this situation caused serious issues. The hackers were able to change the security settings in the account before James got it back. They added their own email addresses and phone numbers as new two-factor authentication security. It is part of the Microsoft Outlook security plan that when changes are made there is a 30-day freeze before further changes can occur. Despite hours speaking with Microsoft Outlook staff at all levels, they refused to close the accounts before the 30-day freeze.

Through all of this we learned that this is called a Port-out Scam. In this case, Telus confirmed to James that his account number was provided to Bell in the port. There was an incredible lack of due-diligence to verify one’s identity in this case. This type of scam has been known to play on the emotions of customer service agents at telecommunications companies and the lack of security measures in place to protect customers. 

How does it work? The hacker would have acquired James’s name and phone number from somewhere to start – not difficult given the world we live in. Next they might have called Telus, pretending to be James, claiming they want to make a payment on their account, but they are not at home and didn’t have their account number – can they have it? The customer service agent should refuse, or ask detailed security questions only James can answer, but instead they provide the number. (CPS told us that hackers can also get addresses, email addresses and more this way) Next, armed with everything they need, they simply call another company (Bell in this case) and pretend to be James, saying they want to port their number over from Telus. Just like that the hacker owns your number and now they can get into anything your number is tied to for two-step authentication. 

James called Bell to inform them of the theft and that they were used in the process of the theft, and, surprisingly, they brushed him off. Told him it was not their problem. Wanting to understand how this could possibly happen, I called Bell to casually inquire about moving over from my existing carrier and told the customer service agent I wanted to keep my phone number. She was more than happy to assure me it was no problem to keep my number – all I needed was my number, and to ensure my account with my previous carrier was in ‘good standing.’ It was way too easy. 

The comical part in this experience is that while it was so easy for the hacker to steal James’s number, in order to cancel his phone number (once he got it back) the Telus Customer Service Agent’s protocol was to hang up and call James back to verify that it was his number, as well as asking for detailed account information and his driver’s licence number. This means that there is protocol that exists, but no assurance that it is followed regularly.

We are sharing this story as we hope that others will learn from this. We want telecommunications companies to start  taking security seriously and we want you to be vigilant. Instead of assuming you are taking precautions and you are safe from identity theft, in 2020 it is safer to assume you are a target and take precautions for the day you will be attacked. 

Mystery Blogger
(MRU Employee)

Is there a way to use 2FA that will provide security even if you are a victim of a port-out or SiM swap scam? Yes there is. Read How to prevent a two factor authentication  compromise to find out.