They stole almost 23,000 euros from him with the SIM swapping scam. Now Vodafone and Ibercaja will have to return them

First, for no apparent reason, you are left without line or data coverage on your mobile. The next thing is to realize that your bank account has been emptied. This nightmare is the result of ‘SIM swapping’one of the most dangerous scams and protagonist of the sentence we are discussing today. what has happened. The Plasencia court has sentenced Vodafone and Ibercaja to return all the money to a client affected by this type of scam, as reported in Economist & Jurist. Vodafone issued a duplicate SIM card to the victim, but it was not she who requested it, but rather a third party who used it to obtain virtual bank cards without her authorization. When he reported it, the bank returned several transfers made by the scammers, but they did not cover the entire amount; There were still 22,833 euros to recover. The ruling concludes that both the bank and Vodafone are responsible and must replace that amount. Why is it importantand. The ruling places the responsibility for this type of scam on companies, not only banks but also operators. Vodafone tried to pass all responsibility to the bank, while Ibercaja alleged that it was not a security failure on its part, but rather negligence on the part of the client. The sentence is clear: both are responsible; Vodafone for not identifying who requested the duplicate SIM and the bank for not having implemented protection measures to avoid this fraud, which had been known for a long time. The ruling concludes that “generic warnings from banks cannot be used to impute negligence to the user”. Precedents. There have been other favorable rulings for those affected by ‘SIM swapping’, such as this one from the Supreme Court that condemned an entity (also Ibercaja, by the way) to return 56,474.63 euros. The cases in which the operators are also held responsible are less common, but they also exist. In 2022, the Court of First Instance No. 15 of Zaragoza sentenced Telefónica to pay 2,680 euros to another victim of this scam. Fines. Although the operators are not always sentenced to pay the stolen amount, they have received numerous fines. The AEDP has already fined different operators for allowing this practice for an amount of 6.7 million euros. Digi has been one of the most affected companies, with a initial fine of 70,000 euros that finally It reached 270,000 euros. SIM swapping. The mobile phone has become the center of our digital life. With it we access and identify ourselves in all types of services, also in our bank, which is why it has become such a valuable object for scammers. ‘SIM swapping’ consists of the scammer requesting a duplicate of our SIM card in order to control our bank accounts using SMS verification. The problem usually occurs due to a lack of security measures in the operators’ stores, which fail to identify who is going to request the duplicate. Image | Pexels, Vodafone In Xataka | What you can do to avoid “SIM swapping”, the cyberattack that wreaks havoc and allows bank accounts to be emptied

The V16 beacons have a SIM with connection for twelve years. We know what you’re thinking

If you haven’t bought it already, you have two months left to get one V16 beacon to carry in the car. It is a signaling device with a light and is also connected to share your position. How is this done? With an integrated SIM that offers connectivity for at least 12 years and for which you will not have to pay any fee. It is inevitable to think about it: How can I use this for my mobile? “Free” connectivity. It is one of the requirements that the DGT has set for the beacons that we must all carry in the car starting January 1, 2026. Once connected, the beacon transmits our position to the DGT in order to “protect you, spreading the fact that there is an accident vehicle to the rest of the vehicles that approach the accident site.” The beacon must guarantee connectivity for at least 12 years and its cost will be included in the price of the beacon itself. That is, you buy it and that’s it, you have a connection for years without having to pay more. The dismantled beacon. Image: Iván Linares, Xataka Móvil Well I put it on my mobile. For that you will first have to remove it and we already told you that you will not be able to. Our colleague Iván Linares, from Xataka Móvil, has dismantled one of these beacons and has verified that it is not a SIM card like the ones we have in mind, but that it is soldered to the board. The SIM cannot be separated from the beacon. In fact, it doesn’t even have the usual shape, but rather it is an industrial sim-on-chip, integrated into the circuits of the board, so putting it in your mobile or tablet is not possible. Furthermore, accessing this plate has not been easy either and in order to remove the beacon, Iván has had to unsolder two tin points. Limitations. Although we could easily remove it, it is a specific SIM for this device and has technical limitations. The main one is that it does not have access to the internet, but rather connects to a private network that connects only to the DGT 3.0 connected platform. If we managed to install it on a mobile phone, we would not be able to do anything other than connect to that network. There is more. Even if we manage to overcome all the obstacles, there is an insurmountable barrier. The network used by the beacons (NB-IoT) is designed for a specific use: an emergency device that connects sporadically. If it were to suddenly connect constantly, misuse would be detected and it would crash. So no, the twelve years of “free” connectivity does not apply to mobile phones. Image | DGT In Xataka | Madrid had one of the most complex underground labyrinths without GPS. Google and Waze have tamed it with 1,600 Bluetooth beacons

Two false dnis, three commercial calls and 70,000 euros of fine. Lebara has been expensive not to check who buys his sim

Three commercial calls being in the Robinson list They have been enough for the Spanish Data Protection Agency to put the Mobiles SA out -of the focus, a company after which Yoigo operates. A particular and unusual case, in which the company has been sanctioned with 70,000 euros despite having demonstrated that the realization of These calls It was not at the hands of Yoigo. It was enough with three calls. The Exp202205208 file acts with a sanctioning basis for a claim filed in April 2022. The consumer presented to the agency the reception of Commercial calls In your mobile line promoting Yoigo servicesclaiming to be registered in the Robinson list. Only screenshots were necessary to provide the records of the three calls, made between March 18, April 11 and 12. The first question begins here. How is Yoigo possible to call a user of the advertising exclusion list for commercial purposes? It wasn’t Yoigo. In accordance with the data protection laws, the AEPD transferred said claim to Xfera, so that the operator informs within one month on these actions. Xfera’s response was overwhelming: None of his authorized lines had issued those calls. After the response of the operator’s corporate name, the case was filed. But it was not there. The user claimed again to the AEPD, making the case reopened. Xfera was urged, again, to investigate the three telephone numbers made the calls. Although none of them had officially called, he admitted that one of them was in his name during the months of April and June 2022. The AEPD continued to track, and contacted the owner of that line. The telephone bill and the call registration of recent months were reviewed, concluding again that it was not called from said phone. Although the user claimed that the commercial calls talked about Yoigo offers, the AEPD concluded next to Xfera that the line belonged to a SIM of Lebara, a small OMV also of the MásMóvil group and that only markets prepaid lines. Uncovering the cake. Of the three investigated numbers, only one had a postal address. The AEPD found that the other two lines were registered with False dnismaking the identification of those responsible for the calls impossible. In short, everything indicates that these calls for advertising purposes were nothing more than scam attempts, telephone scams to obtain the data from the one who received the calls. A fine for negligence. Despite having shown that Xfera was not the first responsible in this practice, the AEPD has imposed a fine of 70,000 euros for being the final responsible for the data processing. It obliges, in the same way, to implement within six months new measures to verify the real identity of new prepaid clients. Similarly, Lebara will have to audit and regularize all its active lines to verify that they are under verified identities. A particular case that, again, resolves that responsibility for certain scam attempts lies on operators. Something that remembers Recent Supreme Court ruling making it clear that, in case of bank fraud by Phishing, the person responsible is the bank. Image | Andrei Metelev In Xataka | Exposed to Sim Swapping: It’s time to upload the security bar when granting card duplicates

How to turn your Sim card into Esim into the iPhone

Let’s tell you how convert a SIM card into Esim into the iPhoneso you don’t need to use the physical card on your mobile. A esim It is like a SIM but digital card, so you will no longer run the risk that the SIM card spoils for some reason. But you should know that If you do this your SIM card will be unused. This means that the iPhone will extract the data and the SIM will remain as a piece of useless cardboard that you can no longer use in your current iPhone or any other device, you will simply have digitized it. Turn your Sim ESIM into iOS The first thing you have to do is, with the SIM, on the iPhone, enter the settings. Once inside, click on the section Mobile data that will appear in the first block of options. Once within the section of Mobile datago to the section that has the name of your operator. There, click on the option of Become Esim That will appear in blue. This will take you to a screen in which you are told if the SIM card you use right now allows you to convert the number into ESIM. Remember that It is an irreversible step. If you want to move on, click on the button Become Esim That appears in blue. Now, you will have to complete a process in which to press in confirmation buttons in several steps, something that will take you less than a minute. Once you finish, your iPhone will already be working with Esim, and you can remove the physical card and throw it, since it will have stopped working forever. If in the future you have to use a SIM, you will have to ask for a duplicate, it does not work anymore. In Xataka Basics | ISIM: What is and main advantages over the SIM and Esim

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