It’s not all bad news, though.

Because our phone numbers are so easy to steal, many big companies have made “authenticator apps”. They’re apps we install on our phones.

These use your phone, rather than your phone number, to give you the code you’ll use to log in.

In other words, if someone steals your phone number, they still won’t be able to get into your accounts. 

This picture shows someone trying to sign in to an account that’s protected by an authenticator app. 

When you’re setting up 2FA on your account, we recommend sticking with an authenticator app.

They might be annoying to set up, but they’re much better than the alternatives.