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> ...thieves can intercept that one-time code by tricking your mobile provider into either swapping your mobile device’s SIM card or “porting” your mobile numbe
by HillaryBriss 8y ago
> ...thieves can intercept that one-time code by tricking your mobile provider into either swapping your mobile device’s SIM card or “porting” your mobile number to a different device.
I know I'm paranoid, but this makes me wonder how safe it is at cell phone kiosks and stores when you grant them access to your account so they can see if you're eligible for a promotion or upgrade.
Last time I was at one of these kiosks (in a busy store) I had to ask the guy to log out of my account before I walked away.
- ObscureId 8y agoThat isn't really just being paranoid. Logging into your account on any public device is not secure at all. Those kiosks are just computers, even if that employee logged out, who is to say that he didn't also install a keylogger before you typed in your credentials? That is a really bad idea.
- HillaryBriss 8y agoYeah. I agree. Maybe this makes it slightly less bad: to log into my account, the guy typed in a single-use random code which their special administrative interface texted to my phone. Assuming that code is truly only good for one use, there's a little safety in that. But, I still wonder what exactly these cell-phone representatives do with the info they can access on my account, and whether they truly log off, or capture that web page's info somehow, etc. I once saw a cell phone rep in-training take a picture of such a private account screen with their personal phone and then text it to another person in the company so that they could ask that person how to carry out the next step in the sequence of screens they needed to fill out. It was pretty disturbing. Customers have to place a lot of faith in the retailer, unfortunately.