Should I Change Banks?

[britechguy]

What I was trying to say is not that we should not create guardrails, but that there are "times and places" where such should be placed, just as is the case on roadways. We don't have them everywhere, because that would be unnecessary overkill.

And I stand by the fact that a perfect solution to user stupidity, regardless of the guardrails in place, does not exist and never can. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have them, but we have to realize that if someone wishes (or is convinced to, whether they really wish to or not) directly participate in the steps of their own undoing it's going to happen. I don't know how any adult who's been paying attention (and I feel very certain you have) over a course of decades could arrive at any other conclusion.

That 100th time is going to happen when they "trip and flip over the handrail" or intentionally climb over it. And that's all I'm trying to say.

 

[nlinecomputers]

2FA is the handrail. It’s not a guardrail used only on the expressway. It needs to be there all the time if only, to continue the metaphor, keep you from being tripped or pushed off the staircase by robots climbing it with you.

End users are being targeted and only because lots of automated systems, like spam filtering, act as our “handrails” is the only reason more people don’t already get accounts attacked.

 

[sapphirescales]

Wow this thread went sideways. I just thought I should update that I'm going to be changing my cell service to this provider:

Efani is America's No.1 Most Secure Mobile Service Provider

Efani is your one-stop solution for an outstanding phone service plan with guaranteed mobile security from SIM swap, eavesdropping, location tracking, and more.

www.efani.com

They specialize in making it as difficult as possible to swap SIMs or change carriers. They require the following information in order to do so:

- IMEI of phone
- Call-In PIN#/Password (You set this up with them when you activate and you can't change it)
- Port-Out PIN# (This is set by them and only given out upon activation. They will never give it out again after that.)
- SSN#
- Billing Address
- Shipping Address
- Last 4 card on file
- exp. on card on file
- issuing bank of card on file
- Test transaction verification (they make several small withdrawals from your bank account on file and you have to tell them the dollar amounts of those transactions)
- 14 day waiting period where they contact me independently to verify that the transfer is legit
- 3x employees manually verify the transfer
- They mail an affidavit to the mailing address on file. You have to sign and return the document before they will initiate the transfer. This is for insurance purposes (each account has $5M of insurance against account compromise due to SIM swapping or number porting) but it's just another step in the process making it extremely difficult for a bad actor to steal your number.

Apparently this company is the go-to cell phone provider for high profile crypto users. They're expensive but it's worth it to make sure someone can't steal my cell phone # and get access to 2FA from my bank. I've done a lot of research and I just can't find a secure bank account that allows you to use other 2FA methods AND allows you to disable SMS 2FA and also has physical branches.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Wow this thread went sideways. I just thought I should update that I'm going to be changing my cell service to this provider:

Efani is America's No.1 Most Secure Mobile Service Provider

Efani is your one-stop solution for an outstanding phone service plan with guaranteed mobile security from SIM swap, eavesdropping, location tracking, and more.

www.efani.com

They specialize in making it as difficult as possible to swap SIMs or change carriers. They require the following information in order to do so:

- IMEI of phone
- Call-In PIN#/Password (You set this up with them when you activate and you can't change it)
- Port-Out PIN# (This is set by them and only given out upon activation. They will never give it out again after that.)
- SSN#
- Billing Address
- Shipping Address
- Last 4 card on file
- exp. on card on file
- issuing bank of card on file
- Test transaction verification (they make several small withdrawals from your bank account on file and you have to tell them the dollar amounts of those transactions)
- 14 day waiting period where they contact me independently to verify that the transfer is legit
- 3x employees manually verify the transfer
- They mail an affidavit to the mailing address on file. You have to sign and return the document before they will initiate the transfer. This is for insurance purposes (each account has $5M of insurance against account compromise due to SIM swapping or number porting) but it's just another step in the process making it extremely difficult for a bad actor to steal your number.

Apparently this company is the go-to cell phone provider for high profile crypto users. They're expensive but it's worth it to make sure someone can't steal my cell phone # and get access to 2FA from my bank. I've done a lot of research and I just can't find a secure bank account that allows you to use other 2FA methods AND allows you to disable SMS 2FA and also has physical branches.

Ok my 30 scan through the site shows lots of information for everything paranoid but nothing practical. Where’s the bloody coverage map? What mainline cellular providers are they using? Security doesn’t mean a damn thing if you can’t get calls or a data signal.

 

[sapphirescales]

What mainline cellular providers are they using?

Verizon and AT&T. They don't have a lot of information on their website. I had to call in and talk to somebody to get the answers I was looking for. The good news is they don't use a foreign call center and their employees are paid well so the possibility of criminals being able to bribe them is low. I didn't have to wait on hold and they're a small, local team that manages their clients personally. This is the kind of attention I'm looking for. It was really hard to find this in a web host but I was able to find a good web host who does this too. I'm done dealing with faceless corporations with massive foreign call centers. I want to be able to call and talk to an American with a brain that knows what the heck is going on, not some guy from the third world being paid $0.14/hour. Yeah it's more expensive but it's so worth it.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Ok so in other words, if it is like most MVNOs you'll have to pick a network Verizon OR AT&T. Google Fi is the only MVNO I have seen that can dynamically switch to other networks on the fly.

 

[sapphirescales]

Ok so in other words, if it is like most MVNOs you'll have to pick a network Verizon OR AT&T.

I didn't ask but they made it seem like they use both networks at the same time and will be adding T-Mobile in the next few months. Frankly I don't really care. I live in the city and get great signal from all 3 (I've used all 3 in the past). I don't drive to the middle of nowhere so coverage outside the city doesn't concern me.