What Can Hackers Do With Your Phone Number? What To Know
Key takeaways
- Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI.
- But what happens if your phone number falls into the wrong hands?
- Phone numbers were found in 39% of all data breaches, according to research from Verizon from 2024, the most recent year for which this type of data is available.
Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Summary Your phone number is a significant cybersecurity risk. Experts warn that while a number alone isn't direct access, it's a critical gateway for fraud, identity theft and account takeover. Scammers leverage numbers for spam, robocalls and more dangerously, SIM swapping, which can occur if a scammer convinces your mobile carrier into transferring your phone number to a new SIM card. Other threats include porting-out scams, subscriber fraud and phone cloning. If compromised, immediately contact your carrier, secure all online accounts with strong passwords and app-based multi-factor authentication, and report to authorities. Protect your number by limiting its public exposure and never sharing personal information with unknown callers.
TABLE OF CONTENTSWhy Your Phone Number Is Valuable To ScammersWhat Can And Can’t Hackers Even Do With Your Phone NumberWhat To Do If You Think Your Phone Number Is CompromisedHow To Protect Your Phone Number In The FutureFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Person receives a call from an unknown number. Once a scammer has access to your phone number, they may implement methods to get access to more of your personal information.GettyPhone numbers are used for many activities in daily life, such as verifying account access, using ride-sharing apps, obtaining tickets for events, boarding passes for travel and of course, communicating with friends, family and colleagues. But what happens if your phone number falls into the wrong hands?
Phone numbers were found in 39% of all data breaches, according to research from Verizon from 2024, the most recent year for which this type of data is available. Data breaches against phone carriers – and their third-party vendors – also expose phone numbers with associated accounts. More recently, a data breach at Charter Communications, a major telecom provider, may have resulted in the theft of 42 million records that include customer phone numbers.