Hackers hijack phone numbers to grab e-wallets

New York

HACKERS have discovered that one of the most central elements of online security - the mobile phone number - is also one of the easiest to steal.

In a growing number of online attacks, hackers have been calling up Verizon, T-Mobile US, Sprint and AT&T and asking them to transfer control of a victim's phone number to a device under the control of the hackers.

Once they get control of the phone number, they can reset the passwords on every account that uses the phone number as a security back-up - as services such as Google, Twitter and Facebook suggest.

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