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27 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,D ecem ber 12,2019 theifp.ca impersonate you to de- fraud your entire contact list. In the meantime, you lose access to your mobile service, are typically locked out of all your ac- counts, and are left scram- bling." The OPP said the fraud- ster will impersonate the victim to gain access to their mobile account and may claim that their phone has been lost or stolen. The victim's phone number will be linked to a new SIM and device that the fraudster controls. The fraudster then downloads a series of the most popular and most at- tractive apps. They will select the "Forgot Password" button on all apps. If the account is associ- ated to the victim's phone number or email address, the fraudster will receive a verification code. They will then use this code to confirm ownership of the account, create their own password and take over the accounts. Det. Const. Ed Spence of the Halton police fraud de- partment said that once the phone number has been ported to a new phone the scammer can also be- gin receiving text messag- es and phone calls meant for the victim. He said Hal- ton police have seen about 12 local instances of this particular scam in the last couple months. "The weakness in the system are the telecom companies. All too often te- lecom companies aren't be- ing careful enough. When someone says they want to port their number they are not sufficiently verifying they are talking to the cus- tomer," said Spence. "It is only going to get bigger still I'm sure until the telecom companies get their act together." The OPP are advising residents to: • Keep personal infor- mation personal by keep- ing information like your date of birth off social me- dia • Never answer phish- ing emails or text messag- es looking for you to con- firm your password or up- date your account infor- mation • Use an offline pass- word manager • Contact your phone provider and ask about ad- ditional security measures that may be available • Contact your service provider immediately if you lose your mobile de- vice. In addition to her credit card being defrauded O'Reilly says her email, her Google account, Face- book account and Messen- ger account were all shut down as a result of this scam. She has reported the fraud to Halton police. While O'Reilly is uncer- tain exactly how scam- mers got her information in the first place she is hop- ing people will learn from her experience and do what they can to protect themselves. She noted her credit card company has cancelled the $10,000 in charges but says the ordeal has still had an impact. "It's really a huge pain and it does make you para- noid," she said. "It's really annoying and it gets under your skin because you just don't know who to trust out there." Anyone in Halton who believes they may be a vic- tim of fraud are asked to contact the Halton police Fraud Unit at 905-465-8741. NEWS Continued from page 25 2 INSTANCES OF THIS SCAM IN PAST TWO MONTHS A nurse is warning others after falling victim to a new SIM Swap scam. Torstar file photo LOWER THAN BOXING DAY! OWOW LOOO LOOO 20$ DELIVERY! FIRST TIME EVER! NOOOBODY! 58" 4K SMART #118992 · 3HDMI · 120 MR ALSO AVAILABLE 50" #118987 $498 58" $697 SAVE $200 4K SMART Price Valid Dec 13-19 Only