How often do you get messages from friends that read something like “Hiya, this is my new mobile 07123 456789 – Dave”?
I get maybe one a month of these, ranging from close friends to people I haven’t spoken to for a little while.
It always strikes me that these messages are taken somewhat for granted. What if somebody were to get a cheap PAYG simcard, then messaged a bunch of the target’s fairly distant friends (the close ones will see them often enough personally) with the new number. They could then masquerade as the target reasonably easy.
Okay, so maybe there’s not a huge amount of damage that could be done (or maybe there is…?), and it only works if you’re in the same network of friends as the target, and okay so the target’s profile on Facebook et al. will probably show conflicting information…. but still, I bet you could at least sucker in quite a lot of people with that.
Just a thought.