Giving up an old cell phone number for a new one may seem harmless. But for Lyft customers, it can potentially expose their accounts to complete strangers.
That’s what happened to Lara Miller, a media relations specialist living in California. Earlier this month, she discovered two credit card charges made in Las Vegas, over 400 miles away.
“I thought it was legit fraud on my debit card,” Miller said.
But in reality, another woman had accidentally taken over her old Lyft account. It happened because the phone company had recycled the cell phone number Miller had canceled back in April—opening the door to the hack.
The problem involves Lyft’s login process. The ride-hailing app does away with the hassle of usernames and passwords, and instead signs up customers with their smartphone’s cell number.
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