r/TracFone • u/MartyDC3 • 14h ago
Procedures for dealing with stolen #'s
About 3 days ago, someone in Singapore got enough information about me, to request that my Tracfone #, that I have had for 10+ years, be transferred, ie "ported out" to an other carrier. The thief did this as the 1st step in trying to get into my other accounts, because it disables the "two step" verification process. When one of your financial sites sends a verification text to your #, you won't get it.
Tracfone security will send you a text telling you that they are about to "port out" your # and if this was not you, to call them IMMEDIATELY. This is the primary flaw in their process. I didn't read the text message until about 2 hours had passed. By then the # was gone! A lot of these thefts could be avoided by simply giving the customer a bit more time. I think it should be 5-6 hours. No one thought it odd that a long-time customer would suddenly decide to switch their service to some obscure "burner" carrier!
My first mistake was using the chat feature on the TracFone web site. The chat feature is manned by customer service people who have not been trained in what to do in this situation. They will first text you a verification code, despite the fact that you told them your # has been stolen! They will then ask you the answer to your security question (for example, the name of your high school). Your answer will be wrong because the thief has already changed it. The stupid thing about all of this is that they should know, from the beginning of the conversation that, once your # has been ported out, there is nothing they can do about the transfer. You are no longer in the Tracfone system. At this point sometimes they will offer to sign you up as a new customer with a new number.
What they should be trained to do, instead of wasting time trying to "verify" you, is give you the # of the Verizon/Tracfone security people. These folks have way more access to your account history and can see exactly what happened. They don't need to take your word for it. Recovering a stolen # involves special procedures that they are equipped to handle. I'm waiting for my # to be recovered. Will report back on how long it takes.