Consumers have a new privacy threat to worry about. It’s known as cell-phone account fraud, where crooks open up a phony cell-phone account in your name and use it to access your bank account, sign up for credit cards, or sell the phone number for other criminals to use.
While little known among consumers, cell-phone account fraud can have a devastating impact on your finances—and your reputation.
"It's a rude awakening," says Kyle Marchini, senior fraud management analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research, an advisory firm for the financial industry. "Cell-phone account fraud can become a huge mess that, unlike credit card fraud, doesn't have infrastructure in place to resolve."