2021-22099: SIM Swapping and Port-Out Fraud

Summary

In this document, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that focuses on putting an end to two methods used by bad actors to take control of consumers' cell phone accounts and wreak havoc on people's financial and digital lives without ever gaining physical control of a consumer's phone. In the first type of scam, known as ``subscriber identity module swapping'' or ``SIM swapping,'' a bad actor convinces a victim's wireless carrier to transfer the victim's service from the victim's cell phone to a cell phone in the bad actor's possession. In the second method, known as ``port-out fraud,'' the bad actor, posing as the victim, opens an account with a carrier other than the victim's current carrier. The bad actor then arranges for the victim's phone number to be transferred to (or ``ported out'') to the account with the new carrier controlled by the bad actor. This NPRM takes aim at these scams by proposing to amend the Federal Communications Commission's (Commission) Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) and local number portability (LNP) rules to require carriers to adopt secure methods of authenticating a customer before redirecting a customer's phone number to a new device or carrier. The NPRM also proposes to require providers to immediately notify customers whenever a SIM change or port request is made on customers' accounts, and seeks comment on other ways to protect consumers from SIM swapping and port-out fraud.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 2 parts of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

• 47 CFR 52 Numbering
• 47 CFR 64 Miscellaneous Rules Relating to Common Carriers