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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Anna Tims

EE was unapologetic after I tried to stop a sim swap fraud

Stock photo of a hooded figure, resembling a crimninal, with a mobile phone
A customer contacted EE immediately to say they had not requested a new sim after a text from the provider saying one would be activated for them in 24 hours. Photograph: Brian Jackson/Alamy

EE texted to say they had processed my sim activation request, and the new sim would be active in 24 hours. I was told to contact them if I hadn’t requested this. I hadn’t, so I did so immediately. Twenty-four hours later, my mobile stopped working and money was withdrawn from my bank account.

With their alien sim, the ­fraudster infiltrated my handset and stole details for every account I had. Passwords and logins had been changed for my finance, retail and some social media accounts. Worst of all, two longstanding email accounts are forever irretrievable as the hacker set up their own two-factor authentication, allowing them to halt any password alteration requests, and change my lifelong mobile number.

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