What can someone do with your mobile phone number?

Have you ever noticed how our identities hinge on mobile phone number in this digital age? The numbers can be used to identify ourselves, swap contact details, text and call. Try to consider how many apps and programs you have that require phone number. However, security concerns arise as plenty of things someone can do with your mobile phone number. They can look up your details, locate a mobile phone, open a new account and much more. Let’s see what info can someone get from your mobile number.

Things someone can do with your cell phone number

Many aspects of our digital life are closely tied to cell phone number. With just the number, it can reveal almost everything, your name, email, address, social profile and much more. Though it brings benefits and convenience, some security and life-threatening issues we should pay close attention to.

Look up your details

If your phone number are public on social media sites, new strangers and even hackers can access it easily and look up yor details online. You would be surprised at how much personal information someone can gather about you online. Those information includes name, email, social profiles, home address, your relatives and more about you than you can imagine.

Create an account

Chances are that someone can open a new account on your behalf with your mobile phone number. It may sound strange, but fraudsters could either create an account or update your mobile phone plan. After that, your phone may stop working suddenly and you receive a new bill for services not used.

Locate a mobile phone

Other than accessing your details, your geographic location could be accessible at all times by entering your phone number. People keeps an eye on other people’s location for various reasons. For instance, parents may locate kids by cell phone number and ensure they get home safely. Married people would like to surprise their partner or identify case of infidelity. While employers want to pinpoint their employees’ location and improve productivity.

That is to say, your mobile phone number provides an avenue to locate your whereabouts. By taking the assistance of WiFi, GPS technology or mobile number locator, one can easily locate the device and find someone they care about.

Sell data to third-party

Someone could sell your details to third-party and it provides an excellent business opportunity for mobile marketing companies. Keep calm and think about it, especially when you receive promotional marketing text messages and calls. Some organizations can collect and resell your phone number to those involved in promotional marketing.

Spoofing

One more thing we should pay attention to is spoofing. Take care that scammers make your phone number pop up on a caller ID when it isn’t you that’s making the call. If a scammer gets your loved one to pick up the call, they have the chance to trick them into whatever scheme they’ve come up with, like providing credit card information. Actually, it doesn’t take much effort or time to spoof a mobile number. Plenty of apps and sites are available for scammers to simply enter a phone number and make a call.

Text scams

Another situation is scammers utilize your phone number to send you malicious text messages. In those texts, they send links that can infect your phone with malware that can steal your personal information, or scam you by pretending to be your bank. These scammers can disguise themselves as someone you trust and trick you into giving them sensitive information.

How to protect your mobile phone number?

If you want to prevent your mobile number from abuse, there are some tips you can apply and follow. It’s advisable to avoid sharing your real cell phone number on social media or give them to strangers freely. Only share mobile number with someone you trust.

Also, do not use the same password on your social media sites or online accounts. It makes it easier for hackers to access your information. If you have various devices, make sure you get rid of unused information. In case the device might be accessibel to others, your personal information might be shared with them.

What to do if your phone number has been stolen?

Criminals can steal your mobile number by an unauthorised port or a SIM swap. Once they have accessed your number, they can receive SMS verification code and avail services. If your mobile number has been stolen, contact your telcommunication company immediately and ask them to reverse the port or send you a new SIM card. You also should contact your bank and tell them someone might be running a scam. Then consider change your ID and passwords for email, bank and socail networking sites.

Conclusion

Now you know someone can perform a series of things with your mobile phone number. They can gather information about you, find the location of a cell phone, sell data to third-party and send malicious SMS. Thus, you should avoid sharing phone number freely and get rid of unused information. If you felt like your number has been stolen, contact your telecom to reverse the port and send your a new card.