Should I convert to an eSIM to reduce the risk of 2FA fraud

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Should I convert to an eSIM to reduce the risk of 2FA fraud

RiskAdverse

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#318852 26-Feb-2025 20:01

I’m planning to a bit of travel over the next few years. I have read that eSIMs can reduce exposure to two-factor authentication (2FA) fraud. If someone steels your phone they can take out the physical sim and put in a different phone. They would then receive the 2FA text messages.

Should I convert to an eSIM before travelling or are there better ways of having 2FA?

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Hammered
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#3348182 26-Feb-2025 20:32

Enable the SIM card PIN on your existing SIM. Job done.

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#3348183 26-Feb-2025 20:43

Stu:

Enable the SIM card PIN on your existing SIM. Job done.

Not if a SIM swap is done on the carrier side

richms

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#3348203 26-Feb-2025 21:06

Better still is to stop using places that only offer SMS 2 factor and tell them why you are moving away from them.

But a sim pin would stop the sim being used in another device, but I have not even seen where to set that up on any recent device. Not like the 3110 days where there was a menu for it.

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#3348207 26-Feb-2025 21:30

Linux:

Stu:

Enable the SIM card PIN on your existing SIM. Job done.

Not if a SIM swap is done on the carrier side

Not an issue if providers don't issue a replacement SIM to an unauthorised person. Providers here are slow in this regard. There has been progress, though.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

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phrozenpenguin

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#3348218 26-Feb-2025 22:53

Your username check out :)

This is not something that I had considered, even with extensive travel. If someone steals your phone, knows enough of your account details to get through user/pass to 2FA, and can bypass PIN protection on your physical sim card/manages to impersonate you enough to get a new sim, then you are probably being targeted for a specific reason, or should have other protection measures in place.

But to answer your question:

converting to esim is sensible, even for the fact that if you lose or your phone gets stolen, it should be easier to get an esim working in a new phone bought overseas, compared to physical sim (I haven't actually tried this though, so may be wrong).
there are better ways of having 2FA, as mentioned - e.g. authenticator, but not all places support them. But worth checking and moving if possible.

Also consider now for some providers that getting incoming SMS (e.g. 2FA) counts as a billable charge, and that charge can be a "daily" rate, which can add up quickly if away for a while. So financially it might be in your interest to move to non SMS based 2FA.

Safe travels and have fun.

Stu

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#3348219 26-Feb-2025 23:18

There have been threads here where people have NOT been able to get eSIM activations done while overseas. 2Degrees were (possibly still are) making you go into one of their retail shops to do anything involving an eSIM. That's why I switched back to a physical SIM card for that account. Skinny was easy to move from one phone to another. All online. Not sure if that's geo-locked, though. OP needs to check this out with their provider.

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Aucklandjafa

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#3348227 27-Feb-2025 06:10

richms:

Better still is to stop using places that only offer SMS 2 factor and tell them why you are moving away from them.

But a sim pin would stop the sim being used in another device, but I have not even seen where to set that up on any recent device. Not like the 3110 days where there was a menu for it.

iphone:

Settings - mobile - SIM PIN

mailmarshall

347 posts

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#3348230 27-Feb-2025 06:29

Aucklandjafa:

richms:

Better still is to stop using places that only offer SMS 2 factor and tell them why you are moving away from them.

But a sim pin would stop the sim being used in another device, but I have not even seen where to set that up on any recent device. Not like the 3110 days where there was a menu for it.

iphone:

Settings - mobile - SIM PIN

Tried the above and it said to enter the existing PIN (which I never setup). Does a SIM card come with a PIN preloaded from your mobile provider? How do you get it? Back in the day, I think there was something called the PUK - is this the PIN?

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#3348231 27-Feb-2025 06:39

mailmarshall:

Tried the above and it said to enter the existing PIN (which I never setup). Does a SIM card come with a PIN preloaded from your mobile provider? How do you get it? Back in the day, I think there was something called the PUK - is this the PIN?

1234 or 1111

nztim

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#3348272 27-Feb-2025 08:36

I know someone who had their identity stolen and a person did a Sim Swap to get into banking apps

TBH banks and other apps that use txt as MFA need to get up-to-date MFA methods

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

richms

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#3348301 27-Feb-2025 09:59

Stu:

Not an issue if providers don't issue a replacement SIM to an unauthorised person. Providers here are slow in this regard. There has been progress, though.

Like everyone in every retail store can be trusted to not do a swap if slipped a couple of hundred dollars as the ID to show that they are authorized.

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richms

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#3348304 27-Feb-2025 10:04

phrozenpenguin:

Your username check out :)

This is not something that I had considered, even with extensive travel. If someone steals your phone, knows enough of your account details to get through user/pass to 2FA, and can bypass PIN protection on your physical sim card/manages to impersonate you enough to get a new sim, then you are probably being targeted for a specific reason, or should have other protection measures in place.

But to answer your question:

converting to esim is sensible, even for the fact that if you lose or your phone gets stolen, it should be easier to get an esim working in a new phone bought overseas, compared to physical sim (I haven't actually tried this though, so may be wrong).
there are better ways of having 2FA, as mentioned - e.g. authenticator, but not all places support them. But worth checking and moving if possible.
Also consider now for some providers that getting incoming SMS (e.g. 2FA) counts as a billable charge, and that charge can be a "daily" rate, which can add up quickly if away for a while. So financially it might be in your interest to move to non SMS based 2FA.

Safe travels and have fun.

Esim is almost as bad as a real sim as providers here do things like issue a QR code for them. Friend had to get someone authorized to waste their time to go to a store and get a QR code, and then they scanned that over a teams call to get back online with their replacement phone. At least it is possible but its not like a physical sim where you can take spares with you and hope that someone at the company can turn a spare prepay sim of the kids tablet or something into a real sim on your account when overseas.

Other telcos let you generate a new esim and invalidate an old one from within their apps, but as telcos here are slow to move off using their own SMS service as the second factor to log in, that would not work unless you had multiple sims on the account and got to choose where the auth SMS went to, which again slow to no action on sorting out by the telcos.

Richard rich.ms

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#3348308 27-Feb-2025 10:25

richms:

Stu:

Not an issue if providers don't issue a replacement SIM to an unauthorised person. Providers here are slow in this regard. There has been progress, though.

Like everyone in every retail store can be trusted to not do a swap if slipped a couple of hundred dollars as the ID to show that they are authorized.

And this is why there should be systems in place to prevent this. Providers don't care.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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scuwp

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#3348359 27-Feb-2025 13:09

phrozenpenguin:

Your username check out :)

This is not something that I had considered, even with extensive travel. If someone steals your phone, knows enough of your account details to get through user/pass to 2FA, and can bypass PIN protection on your physical sim card/manages to impersonate you enough to get a new sim, then you are probably being targeted for a specific reason, or should have other protection measures in place.

I may be a bit naive here, but I would consider I have a better chance of being eaten by a shark or winning lotto than someone targeting my phone. I get taking precautions, but query how much is enough for the average punter before you start being excessively paranoid (unless you have good reason to be)

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#3348392 27-Feb-2025 16:18

Having read the posts about people having problems transferring esim between devices, i would never use one for my primary number with the current systems in place. As an example I was recently away in a boat for a week and my phone bricked itself two days in. With a physical sim, I was able to swap the sim into a spare old phone. With an esim, I would have been without a phone for the week. Even more relevant if going oversea

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