Beware of SIM cloning

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Hitlar A Halim
Published : 07:45, Jul 23, 2018 | Updated : 07:45, Jul 23, 2018

Beware of SIM cloningA few years ago, SIM cloning was alien to the mobile phone users in Bangladesh.
But in recent years, there has been surge in incidents where SIMs of government officials, including ministers, MPs, secretaries, IGP, deputy commissioners have been cloned by fraudsters.
In March this year, several people received calls who they thought was from the Kushtia deputy commissioner. Similar incidents have been reported recently.
In simple words, SIM card cloning is the process of cloning an original SIM card to create another duplicate SIM card without the knowledge of an individual mobile subscriber.
In this era of smartphone, it’s an effective way for identity theft as messaging apps like, imo, Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook messenger as well as social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter now uses mobile phone verification codes to authenticate users.
IT experts say not only the information on the SIM cards, the cloning gangs can also copy data such as pictures, videos and documents stored on the mobile phone.
Apart from using a cloned SIM for committing crimes like fraud, robbery, ransom or terror activities, the real risk lies in financial matters as mobile banking has gained huge popularity. People who use it for financial transactions are the ones with the biggest risks.
According to IT expert Suman Ahmed Sabir, there are three versions of SIMs available— Version 1,2 and 3.
“Version 2 and 3 are secured, but that’s not the case for Version 1. The reported cases of cloning until now involved these SIMs,” he told Bangla Tribune.
Sabir, the Trustee Board chairman of Bangladesh Network Operators Group (BDNOG), says that 70 percent of the SIM used in the country are Version 1.
“Until now, the security of Version 2 and 3 has not been penetrated. So, the easiest way to secure is to upgrade the SIM card, which means upgrading to 3G or 4G enabled SIMs,” he said.
Arif Nizami, chief executive of software firm Preneur Lab, advises two-step verification for email and social media accounts as a pre-emptive measure.
“If the scammers clone a SIM, they will be able to pass the first step, which involves providing a code sent to the phone, but they will not be able to verify the second step, like answering secret questions,” he said.
How to know if my SIM card is cloned?
An official of an organisation involved in manufacturing programmable chips for SIM says the most common symptoms of a cloned SIMs is losing credit without any reason.
“In this case, switch off the phone and call your phone from another number and check if it rings. If that happens then it’s possible that the number has been cloned,” the official told Bangla Tribune asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Unknown software or apps on the phone may be another sign that someone is trying to hack your SIM, added the official.

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