What is a SIM swap scam?

A SIM swap moves your phone number — and every call, text, and one-time code tied to it — onto a criminal's device, usually through social engineering of the carrier, an insider, or phishing. Once the SIM is swapped, the victim's calls, texts, and other data are diverted to the criminal's device.

What should I do if my phone loses service for no reason?

Treat it as a break-in until proven otherwise: call your carrier first from another phone and say “SIM swap,” then change your email and bank passwords and alert your banks. Report it at ic3.gov and to your local FBI field office.

How do I protect myself from SIM swapping?

Stop trusting the number: use an authenticator app, biometrics, or a hardware security key instead of SMS codes, set a PIN on your carrier account, and don't advertise your wealth on social media. The FBI logged 1,611 complaints and more than $68 million in losses in 2021 alone.

Scam verdict · Educational pattern check

Scam Detective research desk · Updated October 2026

Yes — it's a break-in

Did Your Phone Just Lose Service for No Reason? Treat It as a Break-In, Not a Glitch

Treat a sudden loss of phone service as a break-in until proven otherwise. A SIM swap moves your phone number — and every call, text, and one-time code tied to it — onto a criminal's device, usually through social engineering of your carrier, an insider, or phishing. The FBI's figures: 1,611 complaints and more than $68 million in losses in 2021 alone, against 320 complaints and about $12 million across 2018 through 2020. Once the SIM is swapped, the victim's calls, texts, and other data are diverted to the criminal's device — which is how accounts with SMS two-factor get emptied. Call your carrier first from another phone, change your passwords, alert your banks, and report it at ic3.gov.

Educational verdict from documented scam patterns — not a live report. For a 0–100 risk score on the exact link in your hand, run the checker.

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Straight from the source

The verdict stands on the public record — the line below is quoted verbatim from the source named under it.

“Once the SIM is swapped, the victim's calls, texts, and other data are diverted to the criminal's device.”

— FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, public service announcement, Feb. 8, 2022.

Why this question never goes away

A dead phone feels like a glitch; the FBI's numbers say treat it as a break-in. The February 2022 public service announcement documented the surge: 1,611 SIM-swap complaints and more than $68 million in losses in 2021 alone, against 320 complaints and about $12 million across 2018 through 2020. The play is old but the leverage is new — your phone number is the recovery key for your email, your bank, and every two-factor code you receive by text. Criminals get the number moved three ways: social engineering the carrier's support desk, an insider at the carrier, or phishing you for the account details. Once the SIM is swapped, your calls, texts, and one-time codes are theirs. The defense is to stop trusting the number: an authenticator app, biometrics, or a hardware security key instead of SMS codes, a PIN on your carrier account, and not advertising your wealth on social media. A phone that dies for no reason isn't a dead zone; it's the alarm.

Five red flags — any one is enough

Your phone loses all service for no reason — the opening move of a SIM swap; it's not a dead zone, it's your number boarding a new device.

One-time codes arriving you didn't request — someone is logging in somewhere, and the reset path runs through your number.

Accounts locked or passwords changed that you didn't touch — once the SIM is swapped, the victim's calls, texts, and other data are diverted to the criminal's device, and the resets come next.

Bank or exchange alerts about logins you didn't make — SMS two-factor now lands on the criminal's phone, which is how accounts with text codes get emptied.

A “carrier” call or text asking you to “verify” your account or SIM — swap crews pair the port with a phishing call; your real carrier can see the swap without asking you to confirm it.

Your next three moves

Call your carrier first — from another phone — and say the words “SIM swap”: ask them to freeze the account and reverse the port. Then change your email and bank passwords, starting with the account the codes land in.

Alert your banks and crypto exchanges immediately and ask them to block wire and withdrawal attempts — then remove SMS as your second factor: use an authenticator app, biometrics, or a hardware security key, and set a PIN on the carrier account.

Report it at ic3.gov and to your local FBI field office — and paste any “carrier” link or number from a message into the $2 instant check for a 0–100 scam risk score before you act.

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