Crime
What’s worse than thieves breaking into your bank account? When they steal your phone number too

WASHINGTON (AP) — One Monday morning in May, I woke up and reached for my phone to envision the news and browse memes. But there was no signal. I couldn’t make calls or text messages.
But it turned out that this was the least of my problems.
Using my home Wi-Fi connection, I checked my email and saw a notification that $20,000 had been transferred from my bank card to an unfamiliar Discover Bank account.
I foiled the transfer and reported the cell phone issues, but my nightmare was just starting. A couple of days later, someone managed to transfer $19,000 from my bank card to the identical strange bank account.
I fell victim to a scam often called port-out hijacking, also often called SIM swapping. This is a less common type of identity theft. New federal laws aimed toward stopping port-out hijacking are currently being considered, however it is unclear how far they will go in stopping this crime.
Port-out hijacking goes beyond breaking into a store, bank, or bank card account. In this case, thieves take your phone number. Any calls or text messages go to them, not you.
Once your phone is compromised by a criminal, the identical steps you once took to guard your accounts, equivalent to two-factor authentication, will be used against you. It doesn’t help when your bank sends you a text message to confirm a transaction when the phone receiving the text message is within the hands of somebody attempting to hack into your account.
Even when you’re a reasonably tech-savvy person and follow all of the recommendations to guard your electronic devices and identity, this could still occur to you.
Experts say these scams will change into more common and complex, and data shows they are continually growing.
I’m not a tech-savvy person, but I’m a legal-trained journalist who focuses on financial reporting. Because of the highly online nature of my job, I used to be taught all of the methods of staying secure online: continually changing passwords with multi-factor authentication, logging out of apps I don’t use often, and keeping my personal information off the web.
Even though I used to be secure, I used to be vulnerable to criminals. And it took me quite a lot of time and work to get my money and phone number back.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reports that SIM swap complaints increased by more than 400% between 2018 and 2021. There were 1,611 SIM swap complaints filed, with personal losses totaling more than $68 million.
The number of criminal complaints to the FCC has doubled from 275 complaints in 2020 to 550 reports in 2023.
Rachel Tobac, CEO of online security firm SocialProof Security, says the crime rate is probably going much higher because most identity thefts go unreported.
He adds that two-factor authentication is an outdated approach to keeping consumers secure because anyone can find their phone number, date of birth and Social Security number online through any number of public or private databases.
The possibility of thieves obtaining your personal information was exposed again Friday when AT&T said nearly all of its customer data was downloaded to an out of doors platform in a security breach two years ago. While AT&T said no personal information was leaked, cybersecurity experts warn that breaches involving telecom corporations expose customers to SIM swapping.
These days, changing a number from one phone to a different is straightforward and will be done online or over the phone. The process takes less than a couple of hours if the criminal has your personal information at hand.
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Consumers have to be smart about using different passwords and protections, Tobac said, but they also must “put pressure on the companies tasked with protecting our data.”
“We need to update consumer protection protocols,” she said, because two-factor authentication just isn’t enough.
FCC rules were recently modified to force corporations to do more to guard consumers from some of these scams.
In 2023, the FCC introduced rules that require wireless service providers to “adopt secure customer authentication methods before routing a customer’s phone number to a new device or to a new provider,” amongst other latest rules. Companies could require more information when a customer tries to port a phone number to a different phone, from requiring government identification, voice verification or additional security questions.
The rules were set to take effect July 8, but on July 5 the FCC granted telecom corporations a waiver that delays implementation of the principles pending further review by the White House Office of Management.
The wireless industry had been pushing for a delay, citing, amongst other things, that corporations need more time to comply. CTIA, which lobbies on behalf of the businesses, said the brand new rules would require major changes to technology and procedures each at wireless corporations and of their interactions with handset makers.
But experts say if FCC rules had been in effect back then, it might have been harder to steal my phone number.
Ohio State University professor Amy Schmitz says the FCC’s latest rules make it easier for consumers to guard themselves, however it still is dependent upon consumer motion and awareness.
“I still have doubts that consumers will be aware of this and take action to protect themselves,” she said.
It took ten days to get my number back from Cricket Wireless — and that was only after I told company representatives I used to be writing an article about my experience.
During that point, the scammer managed to access my bank account thrice and ultimately managed to transfer $19,000 from my bank card — though I removed my number from my bank account, froze my credit, modified all my passwords and took other measures.
Bank of America took motion to reverse a $19,000 wire transfer after I visited a branch near the AP office in Washington.
Cricket apologised for the error and said in an email that it “expects to provide a much better experience for customers”.
“Port-out fraud is a form of theft perpetrated by sophisticated criminals,” the corporate said in an emailed statement. “We have implemented measures to help defeat them, and we work closely with law enforcement, our industry, and consumers to help prevent this type of crime.”
An AT&T representative informed me in an email that “all carriers are working to implement the new FCC rules regarding number porting and SIM swaps.”
I’m still unsure how this person accessed my accounts – whether through my Social Security number, phone number, date of birth, or possibly a recording of my voice.
It was a painful lesson in how vulnerable we’re once we lose control over our personal data that’s so publicly available.
Crime
DC SEE parents for $ 20 million after the remains of the baby’s son in a funeral home a few months after alleged cremation

Two parents from Washington sued the crematorium for 20 million dollars after it was found that their infant’s body decomposes, though they were told that he was creamy and allegedly obtained his remains.
On February 27, a few months after receiving what they thought were the ashes of their son, Chris Parham and Laquanda Brown received a phone call from the Maryland State Police, informing them that their son’s remains were found, NBC 4 Washington Reported.
(*20*)
Instead of being creamy, their son’s body was found by the police in a heavenly crematorium in Charles, Maryland, still in the clothes he was wearing during the funeral. Brown and Parham received someone’s ashes after their son’s funeral in October. Despite the discovery in February, parents still wouldn’t have the remains of their son.
During a conversation with NBC 4, Washington Parham admitted that after the first visit he had his “doubts” about his activity.
“He told me from the moment we entered the funeral home,” something is incorrect, “said Brown.

Parham and Brown represent one case of what’s now known that it covers several victims of the already closed crematorium. According to Fox 5The crematorium related to the heavens was charged with improper behavior of 2017. The Supervisory Board of Death Services Maryland discovered that at the moment he was incorrectly stores human remains, and the operators still received repetitive sanctions. The company was formally closed in January 2025. After state researchers found human bodies in cardboard boxes arranged one on the other, with legs and arms hanging from bags, encircled by flies. They also discovered body fluids, including blood, on the floor.
From a point of view, they reported that the Governor Maryland Wes Moore opened an investigation into the state supervisory board after the heavenly borders could proceed his business despite repeated disturbing claims.
The son of Parham and Brown died in August at the age of just two months, and parents said each NBC 4 and Fox 5, as this discovery disturbed what a slight healing began to do.
Brown noticed how hard it was, especially after wearing a child for nine months; He was her only son.
“I won’t even be able to experience like his first date, I know what his favorite color was,” she said. “I would never know what person he would be.”
Parham and Brown sue compensation for $ 20 million to make sure the closure of the heaven -related crematorium.

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Crime
Sean “Diddy” Combs rejects the final contract due to the trial on sexual trade

Sean “Diddy” Combs rejected his last probability to avoid a sexual trade process.
During the hearing on Thursday, a 55-year-old disgraced music mogel confirmed that he didn’t accept transactions of federal prosecutors, NBC News Reported.
Asked by the district judge Arun Subramanian, who led in New York, if he rejected the government’s offer, Diddy said: “Yes, your honor.”
After consulting his legal team, led by lawyer Marc Agnifilo, he didn’t plead five charges covering tribute, two cases of sexual trade and two cases of transport so as to become involved in prostitution. He denied all the allegations that were brought to him in quite a few lawsuits, wherein he accused or forced people to take part in sexual files and drug -powered sexuals.
If Diddy is found guilty, he faces an extended time behind bars. If he’s convicted of racketeers, he stands in the face of life in prison. If he’s found guilty of two allegations of sexual trade, he’s in the face of a further at the least 15 years. Meanwhile, transport for the purposes of prostitution fees has a maximum judgment of 10 years.

Details of the allegation agreement haven’t been disclosed; However, at the least one lawyer noticed NBC that it was related to a smaller sentence.
Thursday’s interrogation was the last before selecting a jury in the process, which is to start on May 5. Opening declarations to the trial are to start on May 12. The initial technique of jury began on Monday, April 28, and tons of of New Yorkers were received by questionnaires to determine their impartiality.
While Diddy, who was waiting for the trial in Brooklyn since his arrest in September, appeared in court during a trial in prison, in accordance with BBC NewsThe music director was allowed to wear “non -disconneous clothing” during the trial.
The judicial order specifies that COBS will “allow five button shirts, up to five pairs of pants, up to five sweaters, up to five pairs of socks and up to two pairs of shoes without lace in court”, according to BBC.
According to sales, this movement just isn’t unusual. The accused can often wear their very own clothes during trials, because prison clothes may cause some sworn to see crime by nature.

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Crime
Shooting at Elizabeth City State University leaves 1 dead, 6 wounded

A 24-year-old man was killed at the Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) campus throughout the shooting on Sunday, April 27. Shooting at the Historically Black University campus at Elizabeth City in North Carolina, also hurt six others.
HBCU published statement Explaining that the shooting took place after the Yard Fest, an event that was a part of the larger Viking Fest festival, a weekly celebration of the college spirit within the campus.
“Six people were injured during the incident. Four durable gunshot wounds, including three ECSU students,” confirmed the university. “In addition, two other ECSU students were injured during the next confusion. Fortunately, none of the injuries is considered life -threatening, and all injured were transported to the local hospital for treatment.”

A 24-year-old man who was not an ECSU student was recognized as deceased. His identity is suspended in anticipation of notification of his closest relative ” – read the statement.
(*1*)
The man who died was identified as Isaiah Caldwell, According to State Bureau of Investigation.
“ECSU expands its deepest sympathies for everyone affected by this tragic event and remains involved in ensuring the security and well -being of the Viking community,” he summed up the ECSU statement.
Caldwell was a member of the University of Albany 2021 of the Social Organization of Scholarship Organization, Groove Phi Groove; organization He confirmed his departure through social media on Monday.
“With deep sadness and the deepest sympathy, we inform you concerning the premature passage of our beloved brother, Isaiah Caldwell (autumn 21 – great chapter data). Isaiah was tragically taken from the senseless and non -discriminatory violence from the pistol in Elżbiebeth City State University at Vikingfest at the University of State University University University.
Following shooting, the University moved to distant education for the remaining weeks of the spring semester, in keeping with Virginian-Pilot.

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