Our phone numbers are associated with much of our online and offline life, so there are certain steps to ensure that you don’t endanger yourself by recycling your phone number. Your automated text messages, password resets, and multi-factor authentication prompts could all be sent to a stranger if your phone number is linked to numerous online accounts.
Change Your Number on All Online Accounts
To “clean” up your old phone number, start by updating your contact information on all of your internet accounts. This prevents it from being used to reset passwords or access your accounts. It’s vital to update your cell phone number for all of your accounts with websites and cloud providers.
Update Your Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is designed to keep accounts safe from hackers, but it’s useless if the number that receives the MFA code is in the hands of the hacker. Double-check the MFA prompt for any online accounts that have used the form of authentication security while you go through the process of updating your cell phone number. To send a message to your new number, make sure it’s been securely changed.
Change Your Number on Social Media Accounts
When it comes to changing your phone number, we don’t normally think of social media, yet many of them need you to provide your phone number when you sign up. It can be used to reset passwords and manage accounts. Please make sure that your social media profiles’ phone numbers are updated.
Change Your Phone Number for Service Providers That Send You Texts
Review Your Text Messages for Other Accounts
Most people have more online accounts than they expect, and we don’t want to overlook any that might disclose your private information if a text message is sent to the old number. Look through your text messages logs to see whether you’ve updated other accounts.
Contact Friends, Family & Colleagues from the New Number
If someone with your old phone number has it, they may try to impersonate you and phish friends and family who unintentionally contact you on that number. When you’ve already safeguarded your online profile, you’ll want to protect friends, relatives, and colleagues from unintentionally messaging your old number. This can start happening in one-on-one and group SMS conversations.