As most of you reading probably know, sim swap fraud is a real problem that every carrier faces. Criminals swap your line’s SIM card with their own and immediately have access to all of your SMS two-factor authentication codes. It looks like T-Mobile is making some changes to their SIM swap process to make it more secure, and in the meantime customers won’t be able to do SIM swaps on their own.
According to a (now deleted) Reddit post and confirmed independently via documents shared with us here at The T-Mo Report, T-Mobile is disabling online and in-app SIM swaps until further notice. The document says they are “implementing extra security measures around SIM changes” and this apparently requires disabling self-service SIM swaps.
The document goes on to say that customers who attempt a SIM swap online or in the app will be directed to contact care or visit a retail store to complete the swap.
Both standard physical SIMs and eSIM are affected by this change. According to the post on Reddit, eSIM swaps from iPhone to iPhone via Apple’s iOS will likely still work, as that’s technically not a self-service method (at least not one via T-Mobile directly).
There’s currently no word on when the self-service option will be reenabled. As a general reminder, swapping your SIM or eSIM does not incur a fee, including the new Device Connection Charge fee. The fee is only applied if you add a new line or buy a new device from T-Mobile.
The change is set to take place sometime today, November 10th. So far, the website is still allowing swaps, but that is likely to change at any point in the next day. If you have planned to swap a SIM or eSIM, now would be the time.
