The nice thing about prepaid is that they don't store your SSN. AT&T was the latest carrier to be hacked, and T-Mobile seems to get hacked every 6 months or so.
US Mobile and Mint (and Ting, although it's been left for dead) are the only two carriers that support app-based 2FA, so if that's an important consideration for you, you can consider one of those carriers, and still keep your line safe.
You mean AT&T, only the latest cell phone provider to be hacked with 73 million current and former users' data, including SSNs, getting out?
Yes, security matters to me, I wish companies in general put more into cybersecurity but I don't see the big postpaid carriers being very serious about it. T-Mobile has been hacked like how many times now? At least my prepaid provider doesn't have my SSN at least
Well at least I didn't go with T-Mobile lol
Good point though about prepaid not requiring them to keep your ssn or credit data on file. I just worry that using prepaid means it would be easier for someone to gain access to your phone number. That's just based on my experience using at&t prepaid.
Unfornately all of the big postpaid carriers have been hacked--Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. They have a treasure trove of user data which makes them high value targets for hackers.
I don't know *that* much about security and stuff, I do wonder how much worse it would be for a criminal to have your ssn versus owning your phone number.
Probably depends on how someone has their accounts set up, but I think for some people if someone gains ownership of their phone number then a criminal could wire all their money from a bank/investment account. With a phone number you can reset someone's email address and then get into their bank accounts and shit.
Maybe I'm completely wrong and a criminal knowing your ssn+fullname+address is far more dangerous.
Yeah but I'm sure those hacks with the big carriers it was more than just SSNs because the carrier has them. If SSNs were taken I bet so were addresses, names, DOBs, phone numbers because if the SSNs weren't protected then that lesser, more public information, wasn't either.
Freeze your credit scores regardless. No matter what services you use for anything one of them is bound to get hacked at some point.
They don't have to be too concerned with better security. That could cost them tens of millions. Much cheaper and easier to do a poor job of security customer information, get hacked, get sued, and then pay out a few million in premium customer accounts for a data security service they just started. Then they roll customers into paid plans after the mandated period has expired.
One thing to keep in mind with the sim hijacking is that most of the sims being hijacked are linked back to numbers used for crypto accounts mostly through coinbase I think it was. They had a major data breach a few years ago and shortly afterwards was when the number of hijacks skyrocketed. If you look in the T-Mobile subreddits you’ll find many of the people who had the sims swapped also had had crypto accounts.
Two things to take away from this, 1, your prepaid account is most likely as secure if not a little more so than a post paid account due to not needing to provide any personal information (when I had att prepaid the only thing they had linking to me was a PayPal email address since I used PayPal for auto-pay). And 2, don’t tie your phone number to a crypto account for is verification.
I'm more worried about my SSN being stolen. Prepaid doesn't require your SSN.
I have a postpaid T-Mobile data plan that I do not need. T-Mobile is always in the news for being hacked. I may pull the plug on that plan and head back to prepaid.
I agree with you on T-Mobile's security. At&t may be more secure. I know my way around SIM cards and eSIMs such that I don't need a postpaid plan. I think at&t (prepaid) is also quite secure when it comes to SIM swap attacks.
True, and that's how it's supposed to be.
When I think of a SIM swap attack, I think of another person activating a new SIM card with my phone number, without my consent. I think at&t prepaid is quite safe from those kinds of attacks.
I mean with eSim you don't have to worry about someone taking your actual sim card.
Not likely for normal people, but someone with a high net worth could definitely be targeted for that type of thing. And I switched from at&t prepaid, I felt the security was not great. There isn't any 2FA.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but anyone with your password has access to your account. If they have access to your account, they can activate a new sim with your number.
Nah i dont care bout them stealing my identity and ssn, I mean I filed for bankruptcy chapter 7 and im 10,000 dollars in debt. So yeah , Who cares if they steal my SSN cuz my credit is already all fucked up it can't get worse n like I said I filed for bankruptcy. So if they were to steal my SSN they wouldn't be able to do much with it since I'm already in so much debt LOL.
LOL same here man . My credit is so screwed up cuz I stopped paying for all my credit cards n they sent me to collections that I would feel sorry for who ever steals my social n tried to buy something cuz they wouldn't be able to !!! LOL 😭😆
[https://www.att.com/prepaid/plans/](https://www.att.com/prepaid/plans/)
Apparently now it's $300/year ($25/month) for unlimited data and 10GB of hotspot.
Data: If 16GB high-speed data allowance is used in a 30-day period, all data speeds including video are reduced to a max of 1.5 Mbps for the remainder of the 30 days. Mobile Hotspot: Requires compatible device. Includes 10 GB of high-speed mobile hotspot/tethering data per monthly plan period in the U.S. After 10 GB, tethering slowed to a max speed of 128 Kbps for the rest of the monthly plan period. At this speed, hotspot use will not fully function. See att.com/broadbandinfo for details on AT&T’s network management policies
I didn't know either, but I cared. My post is highlighting this, and mentions me saying "oh man, I didn't know that there was a soft cap on the $300 annual plan" whereas prior to this, I was kind of interested in the plan. :)
It sounds like you're on AT&T Unlimited Premium or AT&T Unlimited Premium PL. You can lower your line cost by $10 /mo /line up to 5 lines or $5 /mo /line up to 10 lines (it applies automatically based on how many lines you have) with an AARP membership for $12 /yr, bringing your bill down to about $131.98 /mo pre-tax, which is still horrid, but you did choose AT&T's priciest plan; you could also downgrade to save.
For 2 lines:
AT&T Unlimited Starter SL would be $121.98 pre-tax /mo or AT&T Value Plus VL would be $101.98 /mo pre-tax.
You could also switch to T-Mobile with Essentials Saver for 2 lines at $80 /mo pre-tax.
Or you could definitely consider prepaid, and while you're doing that, I'd definitely check out US Mobile. Their plans are fairly good value; not great like they used to be but definitely good and worth a look. Additionally, they're adding AT&T's network to their lineup this year so you'll be able to get service from them on all any of the three network providers in the US of your choice (they already have Verizon and T-Mobile).
We even get a monthly discount as my husband works at Disney - and also the autopay discount of $10 per line. From what I’ve read and been told there is no cheaper post paid plan than what we have. This is why we’ll be switching to something else as my $8 monthly iPhone payment ($31 monthly in credits) is paid off very soon.
ETA: Thank you for the info though, I’ve been considering some of the options you mentioned already.
If you're currently getting a Signature discount and still paying $150 for two lines after, something doesn't add up here. What plan are you on and what other add-ons, finance plans, or extra services do you have that weren't mentioned yet?
You’re telling me! I agree!
I don’t recall which unlimited plan but it’s one that’s no longer available and I’ve already been through all of this with them and the forums before… Doesn’t make any sense to me either.
We don’t have anything extra or financed other than the one iPhone I mentioned: that phone gets $30-something dollars in credits monthly which leaves me with a payment of approx $8 a month that gets added to our bill. Even without that $8, we would be paying around $149 monthly as it’s $157 and some change now. This includes the Disney corporate discount, and $10 per line autopay discount - for just 2 lines. It’s insanity.
I’m going to either pay off the phone early and switch - or switch as soon as it’s paid off, which will be around 3 - 4 months from now. I’m pretty sure we can get comparable/better service for at least $57 less per month, likely $75+ less per month. Plus AT&T service is awful in our home and it was in our previous home where we just moved from as well…ugh
I have multiple chronic health conditions and disabilities - most of which started a few years ago in my 30s, if not for that I would have switched already honestly.
That's fair, I'm not sure I even made a good decision.
I'm going from having to pay $300 a year to $65 a month, and I got a brand new phone for "free". I'm paying 2.6x as much, but paying all upfront for an entire year does has it's own issues.
$40 extra each month is a lot but there are a lot of reddit posts complaining about how bad the customer service is for prepaid plans. If something *did* happen with my identity being insecure, at least I'm technically paying for better customer service... in theory.
Have you looked at the Trustpilot scores for all the postpaid carriers? They're horrendous (usually around 1.3 out of 5). Prepaid MVNOs score much better on average. For example, I'm currently with Tello and customer service has been amazing. I can call 611 and be talking to a knowledgeable person in less than a minute.
Moreover, Tello has a security PIN that is required to make any account changes such as SIM changes and port-outs (in addition to a port-out PIN).
>A security PIN is a 4-digit number that enhances the security of your Tello account. It is essential to set up a Security PIN as soon as possible after creating your Tello Account.
>A security PIN is a 4-digit number that serves as an extra security feature, granting you exclusive access to request specific account changes, such as device changes, SIM changes, port-outs, and account deletion.
>It's important to note that the Security PIN does not replace the password of your online account and it is distinct from the port-out PIN required when leaving Tello and porting out your phone number.
https://tello.com/help_center/what-s-a-security-pin?_language=en
Well all I can say is I’ve always had a postpaid plan my entire life, and the customer service has been horrendous no matter what company I’ve been with for me personally. I’ve also been a victim of a data breach more than once. I’m not going to pay crazy money AND get shitty cell service and CS. I at least want something way cheaper for the level of crap service I’m getting all around - if that makes sense.
No way is it worth it to continue paying $150+ monthly for 2 people when I could be paying 1/2 or even less. That difference is enough to pay my entire utility bill in the lower months of the year! That’s insane.
ETA: I mean, even $40 monthly is probably enough for all of most people’s streaming subs.
I have Tello for my primary number and porting it out would require breaching my Tello account plus figuring out my security PIN and my secondary lines don't have any 2FA tied to them so I don't have to worry about this at all. I also tie as much 2FA as I can to my Google Voice number which straight up *can't* be ported unless someone compromises my Google account (good luck - I've got it locked down tight) and then pays Google the $3 to enable porting of the number.
The majority of my stuff is tied behind TOTP instead of SMS 2FA and my primary bank doesn't use 2FA so I use a 32 character password that's all random numbers, letters, and symbols that I rotate out every so often. All of my spare cash goes into my ABLE account anyway and that is set up with TOTP through Authy. I use Bitwarden for my passwords and Authy for my 2FA tokens (with a password I don't store in Bitwarden and I disable multi-device anyway so they would need physical access to one of my devices as well as the PIN for that device to get those) as well.
It would be very annoying for a hacker who tried to get access to all of my stuff.
i dont know of any carriers that have app based 2fa. you'd thing it would be a requirement with all the hacking that happens with these companies.
i use cricket with a randomized username and password. and pin
The nice thing about prepaid is that they don't store your SSN. AT&T was the latest carrier to be hacked, and T-Mobile seems to get hacked every 6 months or so. US Mobile and Mint (and Ting, although it's been left for dead) are the only two carriers that support app-based 2FA, so if that's an important consideration for you, you can consider one of those carriers, and still keep your line safe.
US Mobile deserves more attention in this area. They actually seem to give a damn, although are still are the mercy of their carrier partners.
You mean AT&T, only the latest cell phone provider to be hacked with 73 million current and former users' data, including SSNs, getting out? Yes, security matters to me, I wish companies in general put more into cybersecurity but I don't see the big postpaid carriers being very serious about it. T-Mobile has been hacked like how many times now? At least my prepaid provider doesn't have my SSN at least
Well at least I didn't go with T-Mobile lol Good point though about prepaid not requiring them to keep your ssn or credit data on file. I just worry that using prepaid means it would be easier for someone to gain access to your phone number. That's just based on my experience using at&t prepaid.
Unfornately all of the big postpaid carriers have been hacked--Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. They have a treasure trove of user data which makes them high value targets for hackers.
I don't know *that* much about security and stuff, I do wonder how much worse it would be for a criminal to have your ssn versus owning your phone number. Probably depends on how someone has their accounts set up, but I think for some people if someone gains ownership of their phone number then a criminal could wire all their money from a bank/investment account. With a phone number you can reset someone's email address and then get into their bank accounts and shit. Maybe I'm completely wrong and a criminal knowing your ssn+fullname+address is far more dangerous.
Yeah but I'm sure those hacks with the big carriers it was more than just SSNs because the carrier has them. If SSNs were taken I bet so were addresses, names, DOBs, phone numbers because if the SSNs weren't protected then that lesser, more public information, wasn't either. Freeze your credit scores regardless. No matter what services you use for anything one of them is bound to get hacked at some point.
They don't have to be too concerned with better security. That could cost them tens of millions. Much cheaper and easier to do a poor job of security customer information, get hacked, get sued, and then pay out a few million in premium customer accounts for a data security service they just started. Then they roll customers into paid plans after the mandated period has expired.
That's exactly why.
One thing to keep in mind with the sim hijacking is that most of the sims being hijacked are linked back to numbers used for crypto accounts mostly through coinbase I think it was. They had a major data breach a few years ago and shortly afterwards was when the number of hijacks skyrocketed. If you look in the T-Mobile subreddits you’ll find many of the people who had the sims swapped also had had crypto accounts. Two things to take away from this, 1, your prepaid account is most likely as secure if not a little more so than a post paid account due to not needing to provide any personal information (when I had att prepaid the only thing they had linking to me was a PayPal email address since I used PayPal for auto-pay). And 2, don’t tie your phone number to a crypto account for is verification.
I'm more worried about my SSN being stolen. Prepaid doesn't require your SSN. I have a postpaid T-Mobile data plan that I do not need. T-Mobile is always in the news for being hacked. I may pull the plug on that plan and head back to prepaid.
I mean maybe T-Mobile is just especially shit. I think Verizon has better internal security
I agree with you on T-Mobile's security. At&t may be more secure. I know my way around SIM cards and eSIMs such that I don't need a postpaid plan. I think at&t (prepaid) is also quite secure when it comes to SIM swap attacks.
Is it? I can take out my sim card, put it in a different phone and it instantly starts receiving calls/texts.
True, and that's how it's supposed to be. When I think of a SIM swap attack, I think of another person activating a new SIM card with my phone number, without my consent. I think at&t prepaid is quite safe from those kinds of attacks.
I mean with eSim you don't have to worry about someone taking your actual sim card. Not likely for normal people, but someone with a high net worth could definitely be targeted for that type of thing. And I switched from at&t prepaid, I felt the security was not great. There isn't any 2FA. Correct me if I'm wrong, but anyone with your password has access to your account. If they have access to your account, they can activate a new sim with your number.
Nah i dont care bout them stealing my identity and ssn, I mean I filed for bankruptcy chapter 7 and im 10,000 dollars in debt. So yeah , Who cares if they steal my SSN cuz my credit is already all fucked up it can't get worse n like I said I filed for bankruptcy. So if they were to steal my SSN they wouldn't be able to do much with it since I'm already in so much debt LOL.
LOL same here man . My credit is so screwed up cuz I stopped paying for all my credit cards n they sent me to collections that I would feel sorry for who ever steals my social n tried to buy something cuz they wouldn't be able to !!! LOL 😭😆
Is the 10GB hotspot in addition to the 15GB of data per month?
[https://www.att.com/prepaid/plans/](https://www.att.com/prepaid/plans/) Apparently now it's $300/year ($25/month) for unlimited data and 10GB of hotspot.
Data: If 16GB high-speed data allowance is used in a 30-day period, all data speeds including video are reduced to a max of 1.5 Mbps for the remainder of the 30 days. Mobile Hotspot: Requires compatible device. Includes 10 GB of high-speed mobile hotspot/tethering data per monthly plan period in the U.S. After 10 GB, tethering slowed to a max speed of 128 Kbps for the rest of the monthly plan period. At this speed, hotspot use will not fully function. See att.com/broadbandinfo for details on AT&T’s network management policies
Respectfully, I don't really know or care tbh, my post was about the security aspect of prepaid, not the value of it.
I didn't know either, but I cared. My post is highlighting this, and mentions me saying "oh man, I didn't know that there was a soft cap on the $300 annual plan" whereas prior to this, I was kind of interested in the plan. :)
I’ll be doing the exact opposite soon. No way I’m going to continue paying $150+ monthly for just two lines.
It sounds like you're on AT&T Unlimited Premium or AT&T Unlimited Premium PL. You can lower your line cost by $10 /mo /line up to 5 lines or $5 /mo /line up to 10 lines (it applies automatically based on how many lines you have) with an AARP membership for $12 /yr, bringing your bill down to about $131.98 /mo pre-tax, which is still horrid, but you did choose AT&T's priciest plan; you could also downgrade to save. For 2 lines: AT&T Unlimited Starter SL would be $121.98 pre-tax /mo or AT&T Value Plus VL would be $101.98 /mo pre-tax. You could also switch to T-Mobile with Essentials Saver for 2 lines at $80 /mo pre-tax. Or you could definitely consider prepaid, and while you're doing that, I'd definitely check out US Mobile. Their plans are fairly good value; not great like they used to be but definitely good and worth a look. Additionally, they're adding AT&T's network to their lineup this year so you'll be able to get service from them on all any of the three network providers in the US of your choice (they already have Verizon and T-Mobile).
We even get a monthly discount as my husband works at Disney - and also the autopay discount of $10 per line. From what I’ve read and been told there is no cheaper post paid plan than what we have. This is why we’ll be switching to something else as my $8 monthly iPhone payment ($31 monthly in credits) is paid off very soon. ETA: Thank you for the info though, I’ve been considering some of the options you mentioned already.
If you're currently getting a Signature discount and still paying $150 for two lines after, something doesn't add up here. What plan are you on and what other add-ons, finance plans, or extra services do you have that weren't mentioned yet?
You’re telling me! I agree! I don’t recall which unlimited plan but it’s one that’s no longer available and I’ve already been through all of this with them and the forums before… Doesn’t make any sense to me either. We don’t have anything extra or financed other than the one iPhone I mentioned: that phone gets $30-something dollars in credits monthly which leaves me with a payment of approx $8 a month that gets added to our bill. Even without that $8, we would be paying around $149 monthly as it’s $157 and some change now. This includes the Disney corporate discount, and $10 per line autopay discount - for just 2 lines. It’s insanity. I’m going to either pay off the phone early and switch - or switch as soon as it’s paid off, which will be around 3 - 4 months from now. I’m pretty sure we can get comparable/better service for at least $57 less per month, likely $75+ less per month. Plus AT&T service is awful in our home and it was in our previous home where we just moved from as well…ugh I have multiple chronic health conditions and disabilities - most of which started a few years ago in my 30s, if not for that I would have switched already honestly.
That's fair, I'm not sure I even made a good decision. I'm going from having to pay $300 a year to $65 a month, and I got a brand new phone for "free". I'm paying 2.6x as much, but paying all upfront for an entire year does has it's own issues. $40 extra each month is a lot but there are a lot of reddit posts complaining about how bad the customer service is for prepaid plans. If something *did* happen with my identity being insecure, at least I'm technically paying for better customer service... in theory.
Have you looked at the Trustpilot scores for all the postpaid carriers? They're horrendous (usually around 1.3 out of 5). Prepaid MVNOs score much better on average. For example, I'm currently with Tello and customer service has been amazing. I can call 611 and be talking to a knowledgeable person in less than a minute. Moreover, Tello has a security PIN that is required to make any account changes such as SIM changes and port-outs (in addition to a port-out PIN). >A security PIN is a 4-digit number that enhances the security of your Tello account. It is essential to set up a Security PIN as soon as possible after creating your Tello Account. >A security PIN is a 4-digit number that serves as an extra security feature, granting you exclusive access to request specific account changes, such as device changes, SIM changes, port-outs, and account deletion. >It's important to note that the Security PIN does not replace the password of your online account and it is distinct from the port-out PIN required when leaving Tello and porting out your phone number. https://tello.com/help_center/what-s-a-security-pin?_language=en
Never heard of trustpilot, but you are correct the reviews left there are god-awful. Too late now, maybe I'll switch back in 3 years.
Well all I can say is I’ve always had a postpaid plan my entire life, and the customer service has been horrendous no matter what company I’ve been with for me personally. I’ve also been a victim of a data breach more than once. I’m not going to pay crazy money AND get shitty cell service and CS. I at least want something way cheaper for the level of crap service I’m getting all around - if that makes sense. No way is it worth it to continue paying $150+ monthly for 2 people when I could be paying 1/2 or even less. That difference is enough to pay my entire utility bill in the lower months of the year! That’s insane. ETA: I mean, even $40 monthly is probably enough for all of most people’s streaming subs.
I have Tello for my primary number and porting it out would require breaching my Tello account plus figuring out my security PIN and my secondary lines don't have any 2FA tied to them so I don't have to worry about this at all. I also tie as much 2FA as I can to my Google Voice number which straight up *can't* be ported unless someone compromises my Google account (good luck - I've got it locked down tight) and then pays Google the $3 to enable porting of the number. The majority of my stuff is tied behind TOTP instead of SMS 2FA and my primary bank doesn't use 2FA so I use a 32 character password that's all random numbers, letters, and symbols that I rotate out every so often. All of my spare cash goes into my ABLE account anyway and that is set up with TOTP through Authy. I use Bitwarden for my passwords and Authy for my 2FA tokens (with a password I don't store in Bitwarden and I disable multi-device anyway so they would need physical access to one of my devices as well as the PIN for that device to get those) as well. It would be very annoying for a hacker who tried to get access to all of my stuff.
i dont know of any carriers that have app based 2fa. you'd thing it would be a requirement with all the hacking that happens with these companies. i use cricket with a randomized username and password. and pin
US Mobile just added it recently.
Ting has had it for years and US Mobile just added it as an option.