It’s called . By stealing his phone number, the thief had hijacked the "master key" to his entire digital identity.
The blue light of Alex’s phone was the last thing he saw before bed—a simple notification for a password reset he didn’t request. He swiped it away, figuring it was a glitch. By 8:00 AM, his life had been unspooled. cell phone identity theft
Because Alex used his phone number for , the thief didn't need to guess his passwords. They simply hit "Forgot Password" on his banking app. The recovery code didn't go to Alex; it went to the thief’s phone. By noon, the damage was a checklist of nightmares: It’s called
Locked. His primary account recovery email was changed, cutting him off from his own data. He swiped it away, figuring it was a glitch