Technology
Landline identity theft leads to major bank fraud
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Landline identity theft is an emerging threat that gives scammers backdoor access to your accounts.
An outdated phone number, especially a forgotten landline, can help them bypass security and drain your savings.
Here’s how it happens and how to stop it.
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IS YOUR PHONE HACKED? HOW TO TELL AND WHAT TO DO
A man on a phone call using a landline telephone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How forgotten landline identity theft drained a bank account
Richard from Reno, Nevada, shared a troubling story. His friend lost money to scammers because their old landline number was still linked to a bank account.
It started with a credit alert asking whether the friend had opened a new card. They said no and thought the issue was resolved.
But soon after, they couldn’t access their bank or investment accounts. Despite having transaction alerts enabled, the money was already gone.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)?
The scammer didn’t hack a password. Instead, they used a security loophole, an outdated landline still listed on file.
“My friend had an old but active landline linked to their bank account,” Richard said. “The thief convinced the phone company to port the number to a mobile device. Then they used it to intercept security codes and drain the account.”
The scammer requested a password reset. The bank sent a verification code to the old number, now controlled by the scammer. That code let them change the login, lock the victim out, and move the funds.
Credit monitoring caught the new credit inquiry but failed to detect the fraud inside the existing accounts. By the time access was restored, the money had disappeared.
A man screaming into a phone receiver of a landline phone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why landline identity theft is so easy to pull off
This scam highlights how identity thieves evolve. They don’t always need advanced tools. Sometimes, they just use the details you’ve forgotten.
The role of number porting
The attacker used number porting, a process meant to help people keep their number when switching carriers. It’s legitimate, until scammers exploit it.
In this case, the thief pretended to be the victim and asked the phone company to transfer the landline number to a mobile device. Once the number was active, they received calls and texts, including two-factor authentication (2FA) codes.
How old contact info creates new risks
Many people forget to update recovery settings after creating an account. But an outdated phone number or email can still receive security codes. If a scammer gains control of those recovery tools, your accounts are wide open.
The overlooked weaknesses that made this attack work
Even small gaps in your security settings can lead to big problems. These were the key vulnerabilities in this case:
Old phone numbers stay linked too long
Scammers can hijack even inactive numbers through porting. If those numbers still connect to your bank or email, they become an easy target.
Credit monitoring can miss real-time fraud
Tools that monitor new credit accounts won’t always detect unauthorized transactions in your existing bank or investment accounts.
Weak 2FA setups can be hijacked
2FA is helpful, but only when the linked phone number or email is secure. If a scammer controls that method, they can bypass your protections.
An older style landline telephone next to smartphone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
How to prevent landline identity theft
You can’t stop scammers from trying, but you can make it much harder for them to succeed. Use these steps to reduce your risk.
1. Audit your account recovery options: Check your recovery settings on every important account. Delete old phone numbers or backup emails. Keep only active, secure options on file.
2. Use an authenticator app: Authenticator apps like Google Authenticator, Authy, or Microsoft Authenticator generate one-time login codes on your device. This is safer than relying on text messages, which scammers can intercept.
3. Freeze number porting with your carrier: Contact your phone provider and ask about port-out protection. This feature blocks scammers from transferring your number without extra identity verification like a PIN or in-person request.
4. Remove your info from data broker sites: Scammers gather personal details like old numbers from public broker listings. Use a data removal service to erase this info from the web. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com/Delete.
Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com/FreeScan.
5. Monitor your bank activity directly: Set up alerts through your bank for every transaction. Log in regularly, even if you haven’t received any warnings, to catch fraud faster.
6. Use a password manager: A strong, unique password protects each account. A tool like a password manager creates and stores complex passwords for you. It also tracks password health and alerts you to possible breaches. Get more details about my best expert-reviewed Password Managers of 2025 at Cyberguy.com/Passwords.
7. Consider full identity theft protection: Even with strong passwords and 2FA, your personal info can still be exposed. An identity theft protection service offers dark web monitoring, account alerts, and some offer up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft at Cyberguy.com/IdentityTheft.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Landline identity theft shows that forgotten account settings can turn into serious threats. Take a few minutes to review your recovery options. Switch to authenticator apps. Set up port-out protection. And don’t rely on credit monitoring alone, it can’t catch everything. These simple steps can help you stay ahead of evolving scams and protect your most important accounts.
Have you experienced a similar scam or spotted a new tactic? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
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When Oregon resident Isabelle Reksopuro heard Google was gobbling up public land to fuel its data centers in her home state, she didn’t initially know what to believe. “There’s a lot of misinformation about data centers,” she said. “Google has denied taking that land.”
Technically, she explains, The Dalles, a city near the Washington state border, sought to reclaim that land, “and Google is just a big, unnamed power user.” The city had in fact asked for ownership of a 150-acre portion of Mount Hood National Forest, claiming it needs access to Mount Hood’s watershed to meet municipal needs as its population — 16,010 as of the 2020 census — grows. But critics, including environmentalists, say the city is trying to secure more water for Google, which has a sprawling data center campus in The Dalles that already consumes about one-third of the city’s water supply.
This controversy made Reksopuro curious about the backlash to data centers being built in other communities. So Reksopuro, a student at the University of Washington who studies the connections between tech and public policy, decided to map it out. Using information collected by Epoch AI and data scraped from legislation on data centers, she built an interactive map tracking AI policy around the world. She designed it to be simple enough for anyone to use. “I wanted it to be something that my younger sisters could play through and explore to understand what are the data centers in the area and what’s actually being done about it,” Reksopuro said. She hoped to shift their opinions that way, “instead of like, through TikTok.”
Four times a day, the map searches for new sources and checks them against the existing database Reksopuro built out. “Once it does that, it will write a new summary, add it to the news feed, and populate it on the sidebar,” she said. “I wanted it to be self-updating, since I’m also a student.”
Reksopuro isn’t against data centers, but she thinks tech giants benefit from a lack of transparency around data center policies. “Right now, it’s this really opaque thing — and all of a sudden, there’s a facility,” she said. “I think that if people knew about data centers beforehand, it would give them leverage. They would be able to negotiate: ask for job training programs, tax revenue, environmental monitoring, things to improve their community.”
UCF commencement speaker Gloria Caulfield (University of Central Florida via Storyful)
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FBI Director Kash Patel listened as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke during a press conference at the Department of Justice on April 28, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the 2026 Infrastructure Summit in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)
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Microsoft Edge is adding a new feature that will allow its Copilot AI chatbot to gather information from all of your open tabs. When you start a conversation with Copilot, you can ask the chatbot questions about what’s in your tabs, compare the products you’re looking at, summarize your open articles, and more.
In its announcement, Microsoft says you can “select which experiences you want or leave off the ones you don’t.” The company is retiring Copilot Mode as well, which could similarly draw information from your tabs but offered some agentic features, like the ability to book a reservation on your behalf. Microsoft has since folded these agentic capabilities into its “Browse with Copilot” tool.
Several other AI features are coming to Edge, including an AI-powered “Study and Learn” mode that can turn the article you’re looking at into a study session or interactive quiz. There’s a new tool that turns your tabs into AI-powered podcasts as well, similar to what you’d find on NotebookLM, and an AI writing assistant that will pop up when you start entering text on a webpage.
You can also give Copilot permission to access your browsing history to provide more “relevant, high-quality answers,” according to Microsoft. Copilot in Edge on desktop and mobile will come with “long-term memory” as well, which can tailor its responses based on your previous conversations. And, when you open up a new tab, you’ll see a redesigned page that combines chat, search, and web navigation, along with the Journeys feature, which uses AI to organize your browsing history into categories that you can revisit.
Meanwhile, an update to Edge’s mobile app will allow you to share your screen with Copilot and talk through the questions about what you’re seeing. Microsoft says you’ll see “clear visual cues” when Copilot is active, “so you know when it’s taking an action, helping, listening, or viewing.”
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