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How to Recover Your Bank Access After a SIM Swap

A sudden loss of phone service can put bank text codes at risk. Follow these steps to regain your number, secure mobile banking, and report suspicious activity.
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If your phone suddenly loses service and you can’t receive bank login codes, contact your mobile carrier immediately through its official support channel and report a suspected SIM swap or number port. Then contact your bank through its official app, website, or a number on your card or statement to secure your account. Once you regain control of your number, change passwords, review account activity, and report any unauthorized transactions or identity theft.

How to respond to a suspected SIM swap

A SIM swap or port-out attack moves your phone number to a SIM or carrier account controlled by someone else. The attacker may then receive your calls and texted verification codes, try to reset passwords, and access accounts that rely on your number. Sudden loss of service or an unexpected notice that a SIM was activated on another device can be warning signs.

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  1. Contact your carrier immediately. Use an official support channel and say you suspect an unauthorized SIM change or number port. Ask the carrier to restore control of your number and explain what steps it can take to secure the carrier account. The FTC advises consumers to contact their provider immediately to take back control of their number: FTC guidance on SIM-swap scams. Procedures vary by carrier.
  2. Contact your bank using a trusted channel. Use the bank’s official app or website, or call a number printed on your bank card or statement. Tell the bank you suspect your number was taken over and ask its fraud team to secure access, review recent sign-ins and transactions, and explain how to recover access and dispute any unauthorized activity. The FBI recommends contacting financial institutions and placing an alert on accounts: FBI guidance on SIM card swapping.
  3. After your number is back under your control, change passwords. Prioritize your email and financial accounts, since email or text-based recovery options can expose other services. Use unique passwords. Review recovery email addresses and phone numbers, signed-in sessions, recognized devices, and recent account changes; remove unfamiliar items wherever the service allows.
  4. Report suspicious activity promptly. Notify the relevant bank or financial institution about unauthorized transactions or account changes. If your personal or financial information may have been stolen, report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov for a recovery plan. The FBI also directs people affected by SIM swapping to report suspected cybercrime through IC3.
  5. Keep incident records. Save carrier notices, account alerts, relevant timestamps, transaction details, and case numbers. These may help when reporting the incident. Do not delay securing your accounts in order to collect records.

What to do if you still cannot access mobile banking

Keep working with the carrier and bank through their official channels. Ask the bank what identity checks and recovery steps it requires, and whether it can secure the account while access is restored. The reviewed federal guidance does not establish a standard recovery timeline or guarantee reimbursement; the bank’s process and the facts of a disputed transaction matter.

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If you cannot safely receive a text code, tell the bank that your phone number may have been hijacked and ask what other verification or account-recovery options it supports. Do not treat delivery of an SMS code as proof that the recipient is the account owner: someone controlling a stolen number may receive the code.

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Secure accounts after recovery

When you have regained control of your number and secured priority accounts, check other services that use the same number for sign-in or password recovery. Review recent activity and account changes, and replace reused passwords with unique ones. If a service offers stronger two-factor authentication, use it where practical.

Choose a second factor that does not rely on SMS

Method Does it depend on the phone number? What to consider
SMS verification Yes Easy to use, but a person who takes over the number may receive the codes.
Authenticator app No SMS delivery is required Use it on accounts that support it, and make sure you understand the service’s recovery options if you lose access to the app or device.
Physical security key No SMS delivery is required It is a separate device and works only with accounts that support it. Keep a safe recovery option available; the key cannot restore a hijacked number or replace a bank’s recovery process.

The FTC says authenticator apps are safer against SIM swapping than texted codes and describes security keys as the strongest two-factor method it lists. See its two-factor authentication guidance.

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Add protection to your carrier account

If your carrier offers a carrier-account PIN or password, set one. Ask the provider what other account protections it offers and use its official instructions; protection features and recovery procedures differ by carrier.

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What is known about SIM-swap losses

In an October 21, 2022 notice, the FBI Las Vegas Field Office said the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center had received complaints from more than 1,650 SIM-swap victims reporting losses of over $86 million in the prior year. Those are dated, complaint-based figures—not a current rate or a measure of all incidents. They should not be read as a current national trend.

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