Forum Discussion
What steps does Smarty take to prevent a sim swap attack?
Hey smartazoid,
There are really only two ways for someone to take over your SIM / number.
1) Replacement SIM
2) Port your number out
Replacement SIM - If your services become suspended, we encourage you to reach out to us to find out the reason.
Porting Out - You require a PAC code to do this. Keep in mind that it will be sent to you via SMS. If you happen to receive one of these codes without having requested it, we encourage you to reach out to us.
SMARTY is following the guidelines set by Ofcom.
We kindly encourage our customers to make sure their online accounts are secure, for instance, by creating strong passwords. You can also request a PAC code and get a replacement SIM through our self-service options.
If someone is aware of your details and reaches out to our web chat team, confirming all the security questions accurately, we have to recognise them as the account holder.
Thanks for the information.
> Replacement SIM - If your services become suspended, we encourage you to reach out to us to find out the reason.
How should a Smarty customer contact Smarty in this case? It won't be possible to log in to the Smarty account because Smarty uses SMS for 2FA, and if the service is suspended my phone wouldn't recieve the SMS code, so I wouldn't be able to log in. What is the method for contacting Smarty in this situation?
> we have to recognise them as the account holder
That seems like a problem, since attackers can gather biographical information in order to impersonate a genuine Smarty user. What steps does Smarty take to ensure that the security questions it uses would prevent an attacker in this situtation? It seems like a SIM swap password could be useful.
Hi smartazoid
You can get in touch with SMARTY'S customer support directly via the website or through email. If your service became suspended for whatever reason, you should still have the ability to connect to Wi-Fi.
Some details required for account verification are not personal in nature, and require access to your online account to retrieve them.
With all that said, we appreciate your feedback regarding the SIM swap password.
