Nerdwallet-Liz Weston on SIM swap fraud

If you're not familiar with SIM swap fraud, prepare to be terrified.

This scam, also known as port-out or SIM splitting fraud, allows criminals to hijack your cell phone number. Once they have your number, the bad guys can clean out your financial accounts, confiscate your email, delete your data and take over your social media profiles.

Fraudsters can do all this because many companies — including banks, brokerages, email providers and social media platforms — verify your identity by texting a code to your cell phone. Intercepting those codes can give a criminal an all-access pass to your financial and digital life.

While you can't prevent this fraud, you may be able to reduce the chances of being victimized or at least limit the damage. First, ask your phone company to put a personal identification number on your account. Then, investigate whether you can switch to more secure authentication on your sensitive accounts.