My phone suddenly has no service

If someone talked your carrier into moving your number, your calls, texts, and sign-in codes now go to them.

If it’s happening now

Rule out an ordinary outage. It takes 15 seconds. If your phone shows “SOS,” “No Service,” or “Emergency calls only,” turn Airplane Mode on, wait 15 seconds, and turn it off. If someone nearby uses the same carrier, check whether their phone works. If service comes back and nothing else looks off, you’re done.

Still no service, and you didn’t just switch phones or carriers. Treat it as a stolen number until your carrier says otherwise. If you also got a text about a SIM or number change, or an email about a password you didn’t change, call now.

Call your carrier from another phone or a landline. Use the number on your bill or the one below, not one from a search result or a text. Or go to one of your carrier’s stores with photo ID.

• AT&T wireless fraud: 877-844-5584
• Verizon: 1-800-922-0204. Verizon says *611 from your own phone still connects even if the device has been deactivated. If your number moved to another carrier, Verizon lists a separate line.
• T-Mobile: 1-800-937-8997 (daily, 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pacific; after that, a store when it opens)
• Any other carrier: the number on your bill or in the carrier’s app.

If money is leaving your bank account, or already left, call the number on your card first, then the carrier.

A text says your SIM or number is being changed, and your phone still works. It may be real. Don’t use the link or number in it. Open your carrier’s app, turn on its locks (names below), then call the number on your bill.

Someone calls offering to stop it. Hang up. Don’t give a PIN or a code to anyone who calls you. Call the number on your bill.

What to say

• My phone lost service and I didn't change anything. I think someone moved my number to another SIM or another carrier. I need it back on my phone, and I need a case number.

• Any code you text to my number goes to whoever has it now. Can you verify me another way?

• Please turn on every lock you have for SIM changes and number transfers, and change my account PIN while I'm on the line.

• Someone took over my phone number, so they may have gotten codes meant for me. I need online banking locked, any transfers I didn't make stopped, and a case number.

If something already left your hands

Your number is on someone else’s phone

Ask the carrier whether it moved to a new SIM on your account or was transferred to another carrier. A transfer takes longer to undo, Verizon says. On the same call, ask them to:

• put the number back on your phone
• turn on the locks for SIM changes and number transfers
• change your account PIN and password, and remove anyone added to the account
• give you a case number

If they offer to text you a code, say it will go to the thief and ask for another way, or go to a store with photo ID. If the carrier won’t help, file a complaint with the FCC at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov.

Until it’s back, calls and texts from your number may not be you. Tell family not to send money or codes to it.

Money moved, or someone got into your bank

Call the number on your card. Say someone took your phone number and may have used codes meant for you. Ask them to lock online banking, look for transfers you didn’t make, and check that the phone number and email on file are yours.

Transfers a thief made count as unauthorized. Federal rules (Regulation E) limit what you can owe, and the protection shrinks the longer you wait, so call today. If the bank says you authorized it, ask for the decision in writing and file a complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint.

Regulation E doesn’t cover wire transfers. If money left by wire, ask for a recall on the same call and file at ic3.gov at the same time. For crypto taken from an exchange, contact the exchange through its app or website, not a number from a search result, and file at ic3.gov at the same time.

Someone got into your email or other accounts

The thief has your number, not your phone, so a new phone won’t fix anything. Your phone and its apps still work on Wi-Fi.

Start with your email, because it can reset everything else. Then your bank and payment apps, any crypto account, your Apple or Google account, and your password manager. For each one, change the password, sign out other devices, and check that the recovery phone and email are yours. Full steps: Someone got into my account.

WhatsApp and Signal are tied to your number, so whoever has it can register as you. Turn on WhatsApp’s two-step verification and Signal’s Registration Lock.

Until your number is back, don’t choose “text me a code.” It goes to the thief. Use a passkey, an authenticator app, or backup codes if you have them.

That’s the urgent part. The rest can wait a few hours.

Report it

• Write down the case numbers and who you spoke to: Save evidence without spiraling.
• Report it at IdentityTheft.gov: posing as you to your carrier is identity theft. You get a recovery plan and an FTC report.
• If money or crypto was taken, also file with the FBI at ic3.gov.
• The FCC suggests a police report and a fraud alert on your credit reports. You can also freeze your credit for free. Steps: I gave out a code, password, or card number.

Anyone who offers to get your money or accounts back for a fee, including someone claiming to be from the FBI or the FTC, is running a second scam. Someone offers to get my money back.

What it looks like

7:44 a.m. Your phone has shown SOS in the corner since you woke up. It's still on your home Wi-Fi, and this email arrives.

Your password was changed

P

Postwell Mail <[email protected]>

To: [email protected]

7:44 AM

Hi Dana,

The password for [email protected] was changed on Oct 2 at 7:41 AM from a new device (Android, near Newark, NJ).

If this was you, you don't need to do anything.

If this wasn't you, secure your account now.

Secure account

What do you do first?

• Tap Secure account and follow the steps to reset your password
• Turn Airplane Mode on for 15 seconds, then off, and see if service comes back
• Call your carrier from a neighbor's phone, at the number on your bill

Show the answers

• Wrong move Tap Secure account and follow the steps to reset your password Even if the email is real, the reset texts a code to your number, and your number is on their phone now.
• Okay Turn Airplane Mode on for 15 seconds, then off, and see if service comes back It's Apple's first fix for an ordinary outage, and it costs 15 seconds. But no service plus a password change you didn't make isn't an outage. Don't wait longer than that.
• Best move Call your carrier from a neighbor's phone, at the number on your bill Every reset code meant for you goes to whoever has your number. Get the number back first, then reset your passwords.

No service plus a password change you didn't make: call the carrier from another phone first. Every text code goes to the thief until the number is back.

6:15 p.m. Your phone still works. A text from your carrier says a request to move your number to a new device was received. Two minutes later, your phone rings.

(614) 555-0148

Incoming call · 6:17 PM

1. Caller Hi, this is Marcus with Corvane Wireless fraud prevention. You should've just gotten a text from us about a SIM change on your line.
2. You I did. I didn't ask for that.
3. Caller Okay. I've paused it, but it goes through automatically in ten minutes unless I lock the line.
4. Caller To lock it I have to confirm you're the account holder. What's your six-digit account PIN?

The number on the screen matches the one on your bill. What do you do?

• Hang up, turn on the SIM lock in the app, then call the number on your bill
• Give him the PIN. He knew about the text, so he must be the real fraud team
• Ask him to read you the last four digits of your Social Security number first

Show the answers

• Best move Hang up, turn on the SIM lock in the app, then call the number on your bill The lock is a switch in the app, and your phone still has service, so you can flip it yourself. If the text was real, the fraud team will see the request when you call.
• Wrong move Give him the PIN. He knew about the text, so he must be the real fraud team The account PIN is how your carrier checks that a caller is you. With it, he can call the carrier as you and finish the move. Verizon says it never contacts customers to ask for a PIN.
• Wrong move Ask him to read you the last four digits of your Social Security number first People who steal phone numbers often have those already. The FCC says they gather the last four digits, birth dates, and addresses to fool the carrier. A right answer proves nothing.

The text can be real and the call after it fake. Act on the text in the carrier's app or at the number on your bill, not with the person who called.

8:05 a.m. Your phone has had no service since last night. You borrowed a neighbor's phone and called the number on your Corvane Wireless bill.

(614) 555-0148

Outgoing call · 8:05 AM

1. Rep Corvane Wireless, this is Priya. How can I help?
2. You My phone's had no service since last night. I think someone moved my number.
3. Rep I can see a new eSIM was activated on your line at 11:52 last night. Before I change anything, I need to verify you.
4. Rep I'll text a one-time code to the number on the account. Let me know when you have it.

What do you say?

• Ask her to text the code to the phone you're borrowing, then read it to her
• Say texts to your number go to the thief, and ask for another check
• Hang up and call back. A real carrier wouldn't text you a code

Show the answers

• Wrong move Ask her to text the code to the phone you're borrowing, then read it to her A code sent to a number that isn't on the account doesn't prove you're the owner, and she can only text the number on file.
• Best move Say texts to your number go to the thief, and ask for another check Say why the text can't work, then ask what else they can use: your account PIN, or a store visit with photo ID. If the thief changed your PIN too, go to the store.
• Wrong move Hang up and call back. A real carrier wouldn't text you a code You dialed the number on your bill. A texted code is a normal check. It just can't work while someone else has your number.

Until the number is back, any check that texts your number reaches the thief. Say so, and ask for one that doesn't.

What they’ll ask for

If someone who contacted you asks for any of these, they’re after your number or the accounts it opens. Hang up and call the number on your bill.

“Read me the code we just texted you.” Whoever has it can sign in as you or approve a change. If you called the carrier, a code they text you is a normal check.

“I need your account PIN to verify you before I lock the line.” The PIN is how your carrier checks that a caller is you. Give it only on a call you made.

“Get a transfer PIN in your app and read it to me.” A transfer PIN exists for one job: moving your number to another carrier. Nobody needs it except a carrier you’re switching to.

“Turn off your SIM lock so I can fix this.” You turn a lock off yourself, in the carrier’s app, when you’re changing phones. Nobody who contacts you needs you to.

Lock your number once it’s back

The locks are free. You’ll switch them off yourself before you upgrade your phone or change carriers.

• AT&T: Wireless Account Lock. In the AT&T app, on a phone that’s on your account: tap the person icon, then Wireless account lock. It blocks SIM changes and number transfers.
• Verizon: SIM Protection and Number Lock. Two separate switches; turn on both. In the My Verizon app: Me, Edit profile and settings, then Security.
• T-Mobile: SIM Protection and Port Out Protection. In the T-Life app: Manage, the gear icon, Security, SIM Protection. Add Port Out Protection, also free, to each line under Manage add-ons.
• Other carriers: ask for a lock on SIM changes, a lock on number transfers, and an account PIN.

If the account isn’t in your name, ask the owner. Verizon limits Number Lock to Account Owners and Managers.

Then move your email, bank, and payment apps to a passkey or an authenticator app. Adding one may leave text codes on as a backup, CISA warns. Write the backup codes on paper first, then turn text codes off where the account lets you. Where nothing else is offered, text codes are better than nothing. How: Lock down your accounts in 30 minutes.