They were in an Uber heading to the airport for a family trip to Florida when the call came in. It was Verizon. The representative asked if Eric, whose last name is being withheld because of safety concerns, authorized any changes to his account. He said no. Minutes later, Eric lost his cell service. In short order, a scammer took over his cell phone. Part of what happened next is the story you’d expect — the fraudster transferred money from Eric’s financial accounts. But it got more personal than that. The person posted disturbing messages about his wife and children on Eric’s Instagram account and even sent a DoorDash delivery — a Nutella Acai Bowl from Playa Bowls — to Eric’s unoccupied home.
“Criminals have unchecked access to personal data about me, my wife and my children,” the Brielle man said. It’s called a “SIM swap” scam. Once the fraudster has control of your cell number, they can receive two-factor authentication texts and other messages that are supposed to protect your other accounts. How could someone gain control of Eric’s phone number even after he gave Verizon a verbal “no” to any changes to the account? He’s been trying without success to get answers since the incident. “This is not just about me,” Eric said. “If this happened to a long-time customer who acted quickly and provided a clear verbal denial, how many others are at risk without knowing it?”
Here’s what we know. THE DAMAGE The fateful phone call came in at 12:05 p.m. on April 19. After telling the Verizon rep that he hadn’t authorized any changes, things moved quickly. (We know what you’re thinking. Did a scammer impersonate Verizon? Nope. Verizon verified it had records of an outgoing call to Eric’s number at that time.) Eric didn’t immediately see a series of texts that followed, either because he distracted with taking suitcases out of the Uber and checking in for the flight, or because his service was already shut off. One he hooked up the airport’s Wi-Fi, he saw the first text came from Verizon at 12:11 p.m.. It said his account was moved to paper billing, which Eric said he’s since learned is a common fraudster strategy to stop electronic notifications from going to a victim. Also at 12:11 p.m., a second text said his number was “unregistered” from Verizon. At 12:14 p.m., a new Verizon message said his “Number Transfer PIN” was generated. Then messages started coming from Visible, a Verizon-owned prepaid cell service, to someone named Gary, about a new account. The SIM swap was successful. Once Eric and his family got through the security line, he called Verizon from his son’s phone at 1:10 p.m. He was transferred to the fraud department, which said it couldn’t help because Eric’s PIN was wrong. The scammers had already changed it. He was transferred to tech support, which confirmed his number was ported. The scammer also added a line to his account and connected it to an iPhone 16e, he learned. He had to hang up 70 minutes later when the plane was taking off. But the con artist was hard at work. A Zelle payment for $3,350 was made from Eric’s Bank of America account to a third party. A PayPal credit card was opened in Eric’s name with a charge of $2,843.80 on a $2,900 spending limit. Then there was another $2,390 payment through PayPal to the same merchant. The con artist also applied for several credit cards in Eric’s name. One was with Wells Fargo with a $20,000 spending limit. After reporting the frauds, the money was restored to Eric’s accounts and the credit cards were cancelled. Other accounts were compromised, too, including Amazon, Venmo, another bank and several investment apps, but there were no thefts, Eric said. Then on Easter Sunday, the day after the fraud first occurred, the DoorDash food landed at their front door and the nasty Instagram posts appeared online.
“This physical act, targeting our home while we were away, demonstrates the fraudster’s knowledge of our address and travel plans, suggesting surveillance and a clear intent to intimidate in the real world,” Eric said. He realized — terrifyingly — that the scammer could use two-factor authentication to control his home’s alarm system and digital locks. Later that day, Verizon restored Eric’s number, though he says Verizon didn’t tell him it was restored for three more days. He also initially lost his grandfathered phone plan, which Verizon eventually restored. While that was annoying, it was trivial compared to rest, which left his family feeling violated, Eric said. HOW DID IT HAPPEN? Eric said he spent every day of that family vacation, and has spent every day since, trying to secure his accounts and get to the bottom of it all. He shared with Bamboozled a series of emails between him and Verizon, including his requests for more information — a recording of his “no” call, details about how the port was authorized, anything that could give him clues to what happened. Eric from Brielle, a victim of a scammer “porting” his Verizon cell phone line to another carrier, views the Verizon site on his laptop on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. Jim Lowney | For NJ Advance Media The company said he’d need a subpoena, so he filed a police report in Brielle, hoping authorities would pursue it. Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Eric also shared letters between Verizon and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in which Verizon basically said it did everything right. “While we regret this incident occurred, it is impossible to discern a fraudster when they provide the correct name and PIN. The fraudster possessed this information prior to adding the line and porting the number on the Verizon account,” Verizon said in a letter to the FCC. But Verizon didn’t have much to say about the phone call when Eric said “no.” It said it only retains some recorded calls and that one is no longer available. Eric finds that response to be wholly unsatisfying. He realizes his PIN could have been compromised, but even if that happened, he told a live Verizon representative that he didn’t authorize any changes. What of that?
We asked Verizon to explain. “Our customer relations team has been in close contact with this specific customer but due to customer privacy purposes, we won’t be able to elaborate on specifics,” a spokeswoman said. We told Verizon that Eric offered to sign a form giving its representatives permission to discuss the details, but the company didn’t respond. It did, though, remind Eric in an email that he signed a customer service agreement that says Verizon is not responsible if someone gains unauthorized access to his account. It also offered Eric a $250 “courtesy credit” for his troubles if he’d sign a “settlement agreement.” We can’t publish the choice words Eric had about that offer. CAN IT HAPPEN TO YOU? We simply can’t explain why Eric’s line was transferred after he gave a verbal no. Disheartening, but there is an extra protection for your cell number, no matter what carrier you use. But you have to sign up for it. Verizon offers what it calls “SIM Protection,” which blocks unauthorized SIM or device changes, the company website said. AT&T, T-Mobile and other providers offer similar services, all for free. The services basically lock up your line so can’t easily be ported. You should also review your PINs. Let’s face it. It’s a pain to remember numbers, so most of us get lazy. Don’t use numbers from birthdays or anniversaries. When you declare happy birthday to your kid or celebrate your anniversary on social media, you’re handing a scammer those possible PIN combinations. People also often use the last four digits of old phone numbers or street address numbers from their past. Those numbers are pretty easy to track down, too. When you add any of those numbers to your name, address, phone number, email address and other commonly available information, a bad guy could have easy access. As for Eric, he said this continues to be consuming — and frightening. “What should have been a joyful and disconnected family vacation was instead dominated by damage control and crisis management, all caused by a breach that Verizon failed to prevent and then mishandled at nearly every step,” Eric said. “My intent is to make Verizon fully accountable, help prevent this from happening to others and highlight the real, lasting harm these failures can cause.”
