Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

An alert is being issued about the theft of your cellphone number. The scam is called a “SIM swap” and the FBI is warning Americans as it sweeps the country.

In 2021, the FBI received more than 1,600 (1,611) SIM swapping complaints, costing victims $68 million.

The Federal Communications Commission considers this scam a type of cellphone fraud, defined as the “unauthorized use, tampering or manipulation of a cellular phone or service.”

Here’s how it works:

A person gets hold of your wireless password through a data breach or phishing scam and then tricks your mobile carrier into s...