- A Saratoga Springs couple fell victim to port-out fraud, losing their identities.
- Verizon initially refused to restore their number, complicating recovery efforts for the Harveys.
- Ultimately, Verizon restored their number after media intervention.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Saratoga Springs couple said a criminal has hijacked their mobile phone number and used it to steal their identities and their money. Making matters worse, they said the carrier refused to give them back their number, which allowed the theft to keep going.
Mandi and David Harvey are in damage control mode. It started when service for David's phone went out. There was an alert about an open ticket.
"A support ticket on my financial account that I didn't open," David said of the alert.
He had been hacked, so he booked it to the Verizon store.
Number transferred
"They showed me that my Verizon account phone number was transferred over to another Verizon account," he said.
It's a sophisticated scheme called port-out fraud. Verizon staff told the Harveys to call Verizon's fraud department, which they did — repeatedly. They said they kept getting told because his phone number went to another Verizon account, they couldn't be helped.
"'Oh, the number is transferred legally,'" is what David said Verizon told him. "'So, we need this person's permission to give you back your phone.'"
Meanwhile, "this person" was having a field day. David said credit cards were opened in his name. They got into his payment apps. He lost access to emails, social media, photos, financial accounts and more. Stuff was bought on his Amazon account.
And in this port-out fraud, trying to protect accounts not yet infiltrated by the scammer proved to be nearly impossible.
"If you go into your email and change your password, they require a backup code," Mandi Harvey said. "Where does that code go? Your phone to the phone number that they have for you."
The Harveys said they've lost well over a thousand dollars so far. Unable to get Verizon to give them their number back to stop the fraud, they desperately decided it was time to call the KSL Investigators.
Number restored
So, this time we reached out to Verizon on Mandi and David's behalf. Not through customer service or the fraud department, but through the corporate public relations team. We asked why they can't get their number back despite its fraudulent transfer to someone else.
In a statement, a spokesperson told us they can't discuss details but "are actively working to provide a resolution."
And just like that, they finally got their stolen number back.
"This power that somebody has if they can get your number this easily is alarming and scary," David said.
Avoiding port-out fraud
To avoid port-out fraud, some carriers offer a port-out protection or lock that is supposed to lock your number from unauthorized transfers to another device or carrier. David said he did have that enabled, but somehow it got bypassed.
Swap text-based two factor authentication for app-based authentication on any critical account that allows it. Using such apps as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy or Duo Mobile can help prevent someone else receiving authorization codes into your accounts.
Some carriers also allow you to set up alerts for account changes. Also, limit sharing your phone number.
