Description
Since the last few years, there has been a huge increase in SIM exchange fraud cases in India. To initiate SIM swapping, scammers first buy a new SIM and then contact the phone carrier to activate it with the same number of other people under the pretense of losing the old SIM card. Later, they trick the person into providing OTP and after the activation is complete, the scammers gain control of the targeted person's phone number. From then on, all calls and texts will be forwarded to the scammer's smartphone, which they then use to clean up accounts of respective Bank users.
So how to prevent SIM swapping fraud? While there are many ways you can be aware of any scammer, one of the safest ways is to switch to eSIM. It is the digital version of a traditional SIM card that can be embedded directly into a device. Unlike traditional SIM cards, where we see a dedicated slot to place the SIM. When Apple launched its iPhone 14 series at the fall 2022 event, it announced that all iPhone 14 models retailing in the US will not have physical SIM slots. This means that the iPhone 14 will only support eSIM. While the presence of eSIM is not new, it became the talk of the town after the launch of the iPhone 14. Especially in India, where many people wait for their relatives to bring them iPhones from the US, since which is relatively cheaper, they were only left with two options: switch to eSIM or buy an iPhone from India itself. While the eSIM concept is not widely accepted, it is significantly more secure and beneficial compared to a physical SIM. And when we mention benefits, it's not just about convenience, but also about security from cyber-attacks like SIM-swap scams.
