# How to respond to a SIM swap

> **In brief:** What to do, in order, if your phone suddenly loses service and you suspect someone has moved your number: recover the number, lock down email, then banks, then everything that used SMS.

- URL: https://glide-cleartext.pages.dev/checklists/respond-to-a-sim-swap/
- Last verified: 2026-09-24 by [VERIFIER NAME] (revision 1)
- Publisher: Cleartext, owned by [OWNER ENTITY] (see https://glide-cleartext.pages.dev/about/ownership-and-funding/)

- For: Anyone whose phone number may have been hijacked
- Time: The first three steps within the hour; the rest the same day.

## Before you start

- Another phone or computer you trust
- Your carrier’s customer-service number and account PIN, if you set one

## Steps

1. [ ] **Contact your carrier from another phone.** Say you suspect a SIM swap or port-out, ask them to restore the number to your SIM, and ask what changes were made to your account and when.
2. [ ] **Turn on the carrier’s account lock or port-out PIN.** US carriers must offer account locks that block number changes under the FCC’s 2023 rules. Ask for it while you are on the call.[^1]
3. [ ] **Secure your email account.** Change the password, sign out all other sessions and remove recovery phone numbers or forwarding rules you didn’t add. Password resets for everything else land here.
4. [ ] **Call your bank using the number on your card.** Report the SIM swap, ask them to review recent logins, payees and transfers, and ask whether they can add a hold on changes to your contact details.
5. [ ] **Change passwords on accounts that use SMS codes.** Start with financial, crypto and email accounts, then social media. Check each for recovery details the attacker may have changed.
6. [ ] **Move those accounts off SMS.** Switch to a passkey or an authenticator app where offered, so the phone number stops being the key to the account.
7. [ ] **Report it.** In the US, report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov, which produces a recovery plan and a report you can give to banks.[^2]

## Done when

Your number is back on your SIM with an account lock on, your email is secured, your bank has been told, and your important accounts no longer rely on SMS codes.

## Sources

[^1]: Protecting Consumers from SIM Swap and Port-Out Fraud. Federal Register, 2023-12-08. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/08/2023-26338/protecting-consumers-from-sim-swap-and-port-out-fraud
[^2]: IdentityTheft.gov. US Federal Trade Commission. https://www.identitytheft.gov/

## Related questions

- [How do I know if I’ve been SIM swapped?](https://glide-cleartext.pages.dev/q/how-do-i-know-if-i-have-been-sim-swapped/)
- [What is a SIM swap attack?](https://glide-cleartext.pages.dev/q/what-is-a-sim-swap-attack/)
- [What does the FCC SIM swap rule require?](https://glide-cleartext.pages.dev/q/what-does-the-fcc-sim-swap-rule-require/)

## Cite

Cleartext. “How to respond to a SIM swap” Last verified 2026-09-24 (rev. 1). https://glide-cleartext.pages.dev/checklists/respond-to-a-sim-swap/

## Changelog

- 2026-09-24: First published.