The leaks · 75 / 127 · 2 min
SIM swaps
The phone number is not the seed. It is a reset switch at the phone company, and at every account that trusts the number.
The number is a reset switch. It is not the seed, and no honest desk needs the seed.
A worked case
A number is moved. Password resets arrive at the new phone. The account starts to move. A second message, from a helper, asks for the seed to stop the theft. The first theft was the number. The seed would be the rest of it.
The number
A firm sends codes to your phone. Whoever receives the codes can ask for the reset. The phone company can move the number.
The seed
A real exchange does not need the seed to review an account. A message that asks for the seed after a SIM change is the theft. The number was only the door.
The number was the account
A SIM swap moves a phone number to a SIM the attacker controls. Banks, email, and exchanges that send reset codes to the number then send them to the attacker. The chain is not involved. The phone company is.
No review at an exchange requires your seed. A message that combines a code you did not request with a request for the seed is two different thefts in one chat.
Read it yourself
These links are the record. They are not a recommendation, and they are not instructions. A news story or a court paper can still be wrong about a detail. The check does not change because a famous name is in the story.
Apply the check
Open a question. The line is about this topic. It is not a verdict that anything is safe.
Whoever receives the codes.
The phone company, for the number. The firm, for what a code can reset.
The code. A seed handed over as well.
Check yourself
Write it in your own words. The course's answer opens after that. Nothing is sent.
After this you can take the phone number off any account that can move money.