Why do you think that
re-issuing sim card part is a joke and mission impossible? Such scam scheme was popular in Russia and such methods was widely used to steal money. Btw such method was used to steal gambling balances, but mostly it was used to get access to private conversations. You simply can not imagine how corrupted mobile operator employees are in Russia due to their low salaries.
Recently, I lost my phone near the river, or in the river... Among other things, we also took a boat ride, so I'm not sure when and where it fell out. Re-issuing a SIM card is only possible by going to the mobile operator's offices & requesting a new SIM, with ID or driving licence, or passport... document with picture. I just asked their support, and here is the answer:
It is necessary that the signatory of the contractual obligation personally request the replacement of the SIM card at the point of sale for a postpaid number, that is, the owner of the prepaid service number.
This is from your article:
The fraudster uses social engineering techniques to convince the telephone company to port the victim's phone number to the fraudster's SIM. This is done, for example, by impersonating the victim using personal details to appear authentic and claiming that they have lost their phone.
It's pretty hard to do it... and it's the funny part, it's mission impossible for many, many people. I am sure some intelligent fraudsters, spying agencies and pro-mobsters can do it. But let's be realistic... If we find ourselves in their crosshairs, it's unlikely we can do anything to protect ourselves.
Lets find out which part is really most funny
Sorry man... you described everything well, I imagined it as a story from a movie, and I found all that funny at the moment. What some people do and what they are willing to go through to deceive someone...