T-Mobile Failed to Respond to Customer's Account Cancel Request After SIM Swap: Suit

T-Mobile negligently allowed a SIM swap to occur, enabling an identity thief to take over a customer’s phone number and create an account using her personal information and phone number, alleged a Feb. 27 fraud complaint (docket 8:24-cv-00734) filed in Orange County, California, Superior Court and removed Thursday to U.S. District Court for Central California in Santa Ana.

Morvarid Emamy of Orange County California, was the victim of theft when her vehicle was broken into in Los Angeles Aug. 3, said the complaint. Her wallet, credit cards and driver’s license were among the items stolen, but she had her cellphone, which later received a text message providing her with a temporary PIN she didn’t request, it said.

Emamy immediately called T-Mobile to report identity theft and was told that an unknown female had called the carrier multiple times that day, asking to port out Emamy’s phone number to a different carrier, said the complaint. The individual escalated the matter to a supervisor when she was unable to provide the required PIN for the transfer, it said.

Emamy asked T-Mobile to add an alert to her account about fraudulent activity by an identity thief and to closely monitor all calls regarding her account, the complaint said. She requested a port block and SIM protection for her account, plus other security measures that could be implemented to prevent her number from being ported out or transferred to another SIM card, it said. She also changed her password and PIN to try to protect her account.

On Aug. 4, Emamy received several text messages from T-Mobile about a “Metro by T-Mobile” plan and the transfer of her phone number to T-Mobile’s sister carrier, an action she hadn’t authorized, said the complaint. One message thanked her for her $75 payment. Emamy called T-Mobile again to report the identity theft and learned an identity thief had created a Metro by T-Mobile account by going in person to a store and using Emamy's information. A T-Mobile employee told her "not to worry” because she had canceled the account.

The identity thief continued to try to port the number, and Emamy continued to get texts on each attempt, the complaint said. Despite being told her account had been canceled, it had not been, and the texts continued, the complaint said. Emamy went to a physical store to request again that the account be canceled; a supervisor told her all accounts created with Metro “will be there forever” but that she had “nothing to worry about,” it said.

The pattern continued, and when Emamy tried to decline a text to approve a SIM change Aug. 9, she received a notification that the text was “not delivered,” the complaint said. She learned the same day that an unauthorized third party withdrew $2,350 from her bank account, which Emamy attributed to "T-Mobile's mishandling of her account” and the Aug. 9 SIM swap. She went to another T-Mobile store for assistance, but employees weren’t able to help her, it said. Later, T-Mobile told Emamy the identity thief had done the SIM swap at a store and that its employees “had failed to prevent this from happening,” despite the fraud alerts, it said.

As a result of Emamy’s mental and physical stress, and the time she had to spend dealing with the SIM swap, she was forced to cancel work and appointments with over 30 patients Aug. 10, it said. The next day she received a text promotion about buying a new case for her new Google Pixel phone, which she had not purchased. On Aug. 20, Emamy received a text that her monthly bill had gone up to $206.66.

On Aug. 25, Emamy’s counsel sent T-Mobile a letter via certified mail explaining that she was a victim of a SIM swap, along with a copy of police reports she had filed, the complaint said. T-Mobile “never provided Plaintiff a response” to the identify theft dispute, nor did it attempt to resolve her claims, it said. Despite all of Emamy’s notifications, T-Mobile continues to bill her, to collect charges she doesn’t owe and to allow unauthorized third parties to access her account and information, it said.

Emamy claims violations of the Rosenthal Act and the California Identity Theft Act under the California Civil Code, violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, violations under the California Business & Professions Code, plus negligence. She seeks statutory, actual, exemplary and punitive damages; attorneys’ fees and legal costs; and pre-and post-judgment interest.