Summary
Have you ever experienced fraud or random changes to your AT&T or Verizon account? If so, we have some good news. AT&T just launched a new Account Lock feature designed to protect wireless users against unauthorized account changes, even from store reps, phone upgrades, and SIM swapping attacks.
Last year, I experienced this type of situation twice. Someone randomly bought two iPhone 15 Pro Max 1TB phones on my AT&T account, which got shipped and delivered. Then, later in the year during a phone upgrade, the rep added insurance and changed my plan to a more expensive option without asking. I noticed it later and had them both removed.
Does this sound familiar? Thankfully,AT&T’s new Account Lock featureis now available. Wireless customers can easily enable this extra layer of security in the myAT&T app, which prevents anyone from making unauthorized changes to their accounts, such as device upgrades, line changes, account billing updates, and even SIM card changes.
The feature doesn’t just stop a few changes to accounts or phone upgrades. It applies to any changes to the account, SIM card, phones, tablets, smartwatches, hotspot devices, laptops, and more. Basically, anything tied to your AT&T account is covered.
We’ve seen similar options from other carriers, like T-Mobile’sattempt to block SIM-swapping attacks, and they’re not the only ones. While AT&T is late to the game, it sounds like the company has a pretty comprehensive solution that should, at best, give users a little extra peace of mind.
In the myAT&T app, you’ll see a new Account Lock switch underServices > Mobile Security > Wireless Account Lock. Once enabled, AT&T will email the primary account holder to notify them about the change. You can also do this for individual accounts, like those for children or others on your plan. And yes, AT&T has asimilar feature for business plans.
Unfortunately, AT&T doesn’t go into much detail about how it works when it comes time to make changes yourself or upgrade your device. I assume the primary account holder can go in and flip the switch to disable the lock, upgrade their device, and then re-lock the account. However, what happens when someone loses or breaks a phone and can’t access the unlock switch? That said, I’m sure there are additional steps you can take to verify you’re the account holder, but you’ll probably have to go into a physical store.
I’d love for AT&T to enable this type of feature by default and have customers opt out instead of opting in. That would make everyone a bit safer. Either way, if any of this sounds good to you, head to the myAT&T app and lock down your account today.
