A new form of phone fraud has customers of Canada’s largest providers concerned.

Porting fraud is when a scammer, using your name and phone number, contacts your provider, and requests to have your number ported to another device. From that new device, the scammer is now able to access accounts and anything else associated with the number.

“I had to cancel my credit cards, my bank accounts, my Paypal,” says Nicole, a Steinbach resident and recent victim of the scam. “Anything that your phone is linked to, they can gain access to,” she warns, “so, your social media, your gmail, anything.”

RCMP suggest the following three things if you find yourself the target of a porting scam. First, call your service provider immediately. Second, find out which company the phone number was ported to and lastly, call that company, and have them suspend the number.

Number porting was established by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 2005 and embraced commercially in 2007. The rule was introduced to allow customers to keep their numbers while switching phone providers. The CRTC does require providers to authorize transfers, however, fraudsters have learned to bypass the safeguards put in place.

Nicole remains grateful that she had her husband’s phone to call those that could help her protect her accounts. “I don’t know how I would have done this if I was by myself.”

The Better Business Bureau offers some tips to help protect from this specific type of scam. Inquire from your provider which port-out authorizations can be customized. Call your provider immediately if your phone switches to “emergency call service only”, as it can indicate your number has been transferred to another phone. And of course, remain vigilante in regards to incoming messages from financial institutions, and attempts to phish information.

Explaining why she wants to get the word out, Nicole says, “It’s been kind of a nightmare process this last day and a half, but I just want to make people aware so they don’t fall victim to the same thing I did.”