Boost Mobile has stated that on March 14th hackers gained access to an unknown number of its customer accounts. TechCrunch notes that Boost Mobile had 15 million subscribers in 2018.
Customer accounts were breached through Boostmobile.com and hackers gained access to customer accounts through the use of their phone number and PIN code. Boost Mobile sent out a text notifying affected customers of the incident and issued them a new temporary PIN code with a link to the Boost Mobile website so that they could change it.
The Sprint-owned prepaid brand has also just put out a statement on its website announcing the incident. According to the post, a solution for the exploit has been found and actions have been taken to prevent similar unauthorized access in the future.
A hacker gaining access to your phone number and account can come with serious consequences. If someone with malicious intent is able to take over your account and phone number, they also may be able to siphon funds from your bank account or other accounts. BestMVNO has previously reported several occurrences of this happening.
Boost Mobile has left detailed instructions on its website that people can take to safeguard against identity theft and fraud. One action is to place a fraud alert on your credit report by contacting a company such as Equifax at 1-800-465-7166.