‘I Could Ruin Your Business Right Now’: A Sim-Jacking, Account-Stealing Ransom

Jared Goetz was at dinner when someone used his American Express card to buy a $39,000 web domain. Goetz wasn’t too concerned, he told Motherboard in a phone call: He told the American Express fraud department the transaction wasn’t his, but things rapidly got much worse.

Goetz’s cellphone suddenly lost all service, meaning he couldn’t receive or make any calls or texts, or use any online services. Maybe the e-commerce entrepreneur and business coach had forgotten to pay his T-Mobile bill, he thought. After getting back to the hotel, he found someone had changed his T-Mobile password. Then, he discovered he also couldn’t log into his email, the epicentre of his digital life.