Make sure that 1) you’re not reusing a passcode from another account and 2) that it’s not the last four digits of your Social Security number, because it's likely for sale on the black market already.ĭial 611 from your T-Mobile phone or 1-80, and you’ll be able to add a passcode with a six-digit minimum. Usually if is customer-controlled and not something stupid like your house number, it's a pretty good deterrent.” Everyone who has a cell phone (not just those using T-Mobile) should call their carrier and add a *unique* passcode or confirm they already have one.Īdding a PIN or passcode to your carrier (that you change regularly!) ensures that if you must use SMS-based two-factor authentication, your carrier account has an extra layer of security (like for those with an iCloud account, who only have one Apple device).Īs long as you can create your own PIN, Irwin says it’s a good way to keep hackers at bay: “If there is a PIN/passcode, it’s on the attacker to figure out what it is, and try to make it to the next step of the process. This hack method redirects all of your texts - including two-factor authentication codes sent over SMS - to the hacker.ġ. SMS-based verification isn’t necessarily safe because someone who has your personal info (like the last four digits of your Social Security number or credit card), or even a fake ID in hand, can fairly easily call your carrier’s customer service and change the SIM or move the account over to another carrier. Hacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. But if you’ve set up SMS-based two-factor authentication, it can be bypassed. In fact, cybercrime happens more often now than ever, in part because so much of our stuff (our finances, communication, bills, etc.) lives online. And there are a lot of security breaches. īecause a lot of people reuse passwords, one company’s security breach can affect multiple accounts. You also might have heard that two-factor is important, because passwords alone aren’t good enough. Support this: Apple, Google, Facebook, and your bank, probably. It’s a type of account login that requires two factors, typically a password and an additional verification code. You might have heard a lot about “two-factor authentication,” “2FA,” or “two-step verification.”

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