{"id":17796,"date":"2026-09-03T05:16:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T05:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/?p=17796"},"modified":"2026-10-07T21:37:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T21:37:39","slug":"why-do-80-of-sim-swaps-still-succeed-on-the-first-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/news\/why-do-80-of-sim-swaps-still-succeed-on-the-first-attempt\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do 80% of SIM Swaps Still Succeed on the First Attempt?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"17796\" class=\"elementor elementor-17796\" data-elementor-settings=\"{&quot;ha_cmc_init_switcher&quot;:&quot;no&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-745e675 elementor-section-height-min-height elementor-section-stretched elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-items-middle elementor-invisible\" data-id=\"745e675\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;,&quot;animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;,&quot;stretch_section&quot;:&quot;section-stretched&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-515aca7\" data-id=\"515aca7\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f8d147b elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"f8d147b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8fa0d18 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"8fa0d18\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-f8d7736 elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"about\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"huge huge-message-01\"><\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-terms\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/?cat=34\" class=\"elementor-post-info__terms-list-item\">News<\/a>\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-706c8cf elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"706c8cf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Why Do 80% of SIM Swaps Still Succeed on the First Attempt?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-159eff6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-shortcode\" data-id=\"159eff6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"shortcode.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-shortcode\"><p style=\"color: #fff !important; text-align: center;\">By PAiCore Technology \u25cf <span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\"><\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">min read<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-17beabb elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"17beabb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9634c7a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9634c7a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b986b16\" data-id=\"b986b16\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b1fb0ab elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"b1fb0ab\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7f200e7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7f200e7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A mobile number is treated as a credential by almost every digital service that uses SMS one-time passwords. The problem is that a phone number was never designed to be one. It can be moved from one physical SIM to another, and when that happens, every code sent to &#8220;verify&#8221; the account holder goes to whoever is now holding the number \u2014 not the person the account actually belongs to.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Princeton University study of five major US prepaid carriers found that 80% of first-attempt SIM swap requests succeeded, largely because the carriers relied on authentication challenges that were easy for an attacker to work around.<\/span><\/p><h3><b>From a Phone Number to an Account Takeover<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A simple workflow can be represented as:<\/span><\/p><p><b>Fraudster \u2192 Carrier Authentication Challenge \u2192 SIM Swap \u2192 SMS OTP Redirected \u2192 Account Takeover<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The application never sees this happen. It only sees a correct OTP entered on time, because from the network&#8217;s perspective, the swap has already succeeded before the login attempt ever begins.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This pattern supports several well-documented fraud categories:<\/span><\/p><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bank account and payment app takeover<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cryptocurrency wallet theft<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email and social media hijacking<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Password reset abuse across any service using SMS OTP<\/span><\/li><\/ul><h3><b>Why the OTP Itself Isn&#8217;t the Weak Point<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The one-time password is doing exactly what it was designed to do \u2014 proving that a code sent to a number was entered correctly. The weakness sits one layer below that, in the assumption that the number still points to the same physical SIM it did yesterday.<\/span><\/p><h3><b>A Check a Swapped SIM Cannot Pass<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Silent Network Authentication works differently. Instead of sending a shared secret to a phone number, it queries the mobile network directly to confirm that the SIM currently active on that number matches the SIM associated with the account.<\/span><\/p><p><b>Application \u2192 Silent Network Authentication API \u2192 Network API Gateway \u2192 Mobile Network \u2192 SIM Match Result<\/b><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A swapped SIM fails this check by definition, because the fraud depends on the number pointing to a different physical SIM than the one on record. There is no code to intercept, because nothing is sent to intercept.<\/span><\/p><h3><b>Where PAiCore Fits<\/b><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PAiCore&#8217;s Network API Gateway exposes Silent Network Authentication as a standard, CAMARA-aligned API, bridging modern applications directly to the underlying telecom signaling that can confirm SIM identity in real time \u2014 without adding a step for the user.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Explore PAiCore Network API Gw<\/span><\/p><p><a href=\"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get in touch<\/span><\/a><\/p><h3><b>References<\/b><\/h3><ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ieee-security.org\/TC\/SPW2020\/ConPro\/papers\/lee-conpro20.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An Empirical Study of Wireless Carrier Authentication for SIM Swaps \u2014 Princeton University \/ IEEE SPW 2020<\/span><\/a><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en-us\/posts\/corporates\/sim-swap-fraud\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Deep Dive into the Growing Threat of SIM Swap Fraud \u2014 Thomson Reuters Institute<\/span><\/a><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/network-gw\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PAiCore Network API Gw<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A phone number can be redirected. A silent, network-verified check on the SIM behind it cannot.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f85f1e2 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"f85f1e2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0173147 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0173147\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dd0cc70 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"dd0cc70\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53a6b8e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"53a6b8e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Read more at\u2026<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e997386 elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"e997386\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/?r3d=opens-sorce-smscv3-2-0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">RELEASE NOTES<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ebfaa6b elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"ebfaa6b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By PAiCore Technology \u25cf A mobile number is treated as a credential by almost every digital service that uses SMS one-time passwords. The problem is that a phone number was never designed to be one. It can be moved from one physical SIM to another, and when that happens, every code sent to &#8220;verify&#8221; the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[50,77],"class_list":["post-17796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-api","tag-network-api-gw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17796"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17801,"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17796\/revisions\/17801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paicore.tech\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}