You might think that it’s harmless if cybercriminals get hold of your phone number, but that’s not the case. It’s crucial to understand what hackers can do once they have access to your contact number. Thus, with just your phone number, hackers can send you phishing messages, bombard you with spam calls, and even commit identity theft by swapping your SIM card.
Read on to learn more about how hackers can misuse your phone number and how you can protect yourself with a temporary phone number from SMS-Man.
What Hackers Can Do with Your Phone Number
Here are some of the dangers of exposing your phone number to cybercriminals:
- Phishing Attacks. Phishing is when attackers trick you into giving away sensitive information. These attacks often occur through emails, text messages, or phone calls. Once hackers have your phone number, they can target you with phishing texts or calls. If you fall for their tricks, you might inadvertently share personal details that can lead to compromised accounts or identity theft.
- Spam Calls. Spam calls can be incredibly annoying, especially if you don’t have proper spam protection on your phone. If your number is leaked in a data breach, the frequency of these calls could skyrocket. While some of these calls come from legitimate telemarketers, others are from malicious actors trying to steal your information.
- Phone Number Spoofing. Phone spoofing is when hackers use your phone number to impersonate you. Typically, caller ID helps people recognize who’s calling. However, if your phone number is spoofed, attackers can pose as you to target your contacts or strangers. This can cause harm to your friends and family, who may think you are the one contacting them. Additionally, if hackers spoof your number to scam strangers, you could receive angry calls and messages from victims believing you’re responsible for the spam.
- SIM Swapping. A SIM card is a unique identification number assigned to you by your mobile carrier. It stores information such as your data plan, text messages, phone number, and contacts. In a type of cyberattack known as SIM swapping, hackers trick your carrier into transferring your phone number to a new SIM card. They often pretend to be you, claiming your phone was lost or stolen. If the carrier falls for the trick, hackers can intercept your calls and messages. This is particularly dangerous because they can receive your two-factor authentication codes sent via SMS, making it easier for them to access your accounts.
How to Protect Yourself with SMS-Man Platform?
To avoid these dangers, it is important to keep your phone number private and not share it unnecessarily. Instead of using your personal number for online or app registration, use a temporary phone number.
Services like SMS-Man allow you to get a temporary number to receive SMS, which helps keep your personal information safe. This method not only protects your real number from spammers and hackers, but also allows you to bypass regional blocking.
So, you can choose a phone number of any country from the list like the United States, China, Germany, United Kingdom and others. This will give you a local phone number online that can be used for registrations or other purposes.
Conclusion
In general, online security comes down to protecting your personal information and minimising the risks associated with its leakage. Hackers and attackers can exploit any vulnerability to gain access to your data, and your phone number is one of those vulnerabilities.
To protect yourself, it is important to exercise caution when using personal information online, choose strong passwords, activate two-factor authentication and use available tools like temporary phone numbers. Taking these steps can help reduce the likelihood of hacking, identity theft, and other threats.