Sim-swap fraud: How your bank account can be emptied by phone

Fraudsters, armed with a phone with a replacement sim they ordered, can receive verification codes to access the victim’s bank account. Photograph: Brian Jackson/Alamy

A north London teacher has warned others to be on their guard if their mobile phone suddenly stops working. Fraudsters apparently used the ID information she had given to a lettings agent to first take over her phone and then clean out her bank account.

Angela Nevin* says she is still reeling from the episode that caused her “no end of anxiety and stress” as she waited for more than 10 days to see if Barclays would return the £3,500 that was stolen. She is the latest person to have her mobile’s sim card taken over by fraudsters to use it to gain one-time passcodes to authorise bank withdrawals.