Anatel wants to put an end to line hijacking scams across the country. Find out how it will work from now on!
New rules for cell phone portability came into effect this Monday (28). The rules aim to prevent fraud from the well-known “portability scam”, which is on the rise, in addition to helping customers who are dissatisfied with their operator and want to switch to another one.
The National Telecommunications Agency, Anatel, announced a series of new measures to improve portability procedures throughout Brazil, in order to prevent fraud in the process of transferring numbers between operators.
Find out what the new measures are and how portability will work from now on!
Portability
Portability is a right for consumers of telephone services, whether mobile or fixed, allowing users to change operators without having to change their telephone number.
According to Anatel, companies have new obligations to make adjustments to current portability procedures, to end the possibility of fraudulent practices related to portability scam, the “hijacking” of telephone lines. The scam occurs when the criminal pretends to be the owner of the line and contacts the operator to transfer the number to another company.
The change establishes that customers interested in making the transfer must respond to the confirmation sent via SMS and their mobile device within a maximum period of six hours. If they respond with “yes”, the request will be validated. If the user does not respond or responds negatively, the request will be automatically cancelled.
According to a legal expert interviewed by the Dol portal, the change will not imply a major change for consumers, but the verification will contribute to the security of the line, since this type of procedure has already been implemented in applications and has achieved the expected success.
Scams
Portability scams occur when criminals contact operators and pretend to be the owner of the line, with the victim's full name, CPF and telephone number, requesting that the number be transferred to another operator. With this, they are able to hijack the telephone line.
With the scam, the victim loses access to their telephone line and is no longer able to make calls and send messages, in addition to losing access to their social media platforms. like WhatsApp and Instagram.
Once they have access to the victims' networks, criminals begin to impersonate the person, using social media profiles to commit scams, selling non-existent objects, asking for loans or advertising false services, promotions and false investments.
Implementation
The implementation of the new rules began in April, with tests carried out in the area with DDD 64, and was expanded to the Central-West and North regions. Now, the new procedures have come into effect throughout the country.
Second Anatel, the introduction of this new process will bring significant changes to the operators' sales channels, in physical stores, online or telesales, as well as adjustments to the systems for training customer service teams and passing on information between the country's operators. Anatel also reported that the new regulations will also impact the relationship with users, and therefore, the adoption of the measures happened gradually.
With the new rules, the Agency aims to provide users with a more reliable and protected experience when choosing to exercise their right to portability.
