evidence: To steal your number, scammers start by gathering as much personal information on you as they can find and then engaging in social engineering. [...] Once scammers provide your smartphone provider with the information they've gotten from you or the dark web, they use it to convince your provider to switch your number to a new SIM card. These criminals then gain access to and control over your cellphone number, something that fraudsters can use to access your phone communications with banks and other organizations, in particular, your text messages. They can then receive any codes or password resets sent to that phone via call or text for any of your accounts. And that’s it: They’re in.