Experts have raised the alarm about SIM swapping fraud after the number of recorded scams surged tenfold in a year.
There was a 1,055 per cent increase in unauthorised phone SIM swaps in the UK in 2024 - a practice which not only leads to people having their money stolen but also their identity.
SIM swapping, believed to have played a role in the cyberattack on Marks & Spencer and the Co-op, is when a fraudster transfers a customer’s phone number to a SIM card in their possession, thereby gaining control of that mobile phone.
Simon Miller, director of policy, strategy and communications at fraud prevention service CIFAS, which conducted the research, told The Independent the rise was “particularly concerning.”
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