Here is a privacy risk almost nobody thinks about until it happens to them. When you switch phone numbers and let your old one lapse, telcos eventually recycle it and hand it to a brand new subscriber, and that new person can end up with access to accounts you completely forgot were still linked to that number.
The mechanics are simple and a little unsettling. When a mobile number is recycled, the previous owner's digital footprint often stays attached to it, since people rarely go back and update every bank, e-commerce account, and streaming service that still lists the old number as their contact or two-factor authentication method. If someone requests a password reset on one of those old accounts, the one-time code goes straight to whoever now holds that recycled number, with zero friction involved.
This is not a hypothetical problem in Malaysia either. Local banks routinely warn customers about scams built around exactly this kind of confusion, where someone claiming to have registered the wrong number asks a victim to forward an OTP that was accidentally sent to them, when in reality the scammer is trying to log into the victim's own online banking using that very code. Banks are unanimous that you should never forward an OTP or TAC to anyone, regardless of what story they give you, even if they claim to be calling from the bank itself.
The practical fix is boring but effective, whenever you change your phone number, go through your bank, email, social media, and shopping accounts one by one and update the contact number immediately, rather than assuming it will sort itself out eventually.
My Opinion
This one genuinely made me go check my own accounts after reading through it, because I know for a fact I have at least one old service still linked to a number I stopped using years ago. It is such a boring, unglamorous kind of risk compared to the scams that make headlines, but that is exactly why it slips through the cracks. Do yourself a favour and spend twenty minutes updating your contact numbers across your important accounts. It is not exciting work, but neither is dealing with a drained bank account because you never got around to it.
Ronny M (ronny76netstuff@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
