[tlug] OT: Does sim-jacking happen in Japan?

[Edmund Edgar <lists@example.com>]

So as a routine thing I've been trying to make sure I've properly secured my various web2 logins and things (like email and internet banking and DNS registrations and so forth); Increasingly I've been noticing that everybody wants to use my phone as an authentication device; Without going into all the specific sites I'm using, I'm often seeing that even if I set up a service with what seems to me like a nice, secure hardware 2-factor arrangement there seems to be a "I lost my 2-factor thing" which falls back on trusting my phone.

I often hear stories about people losing control of their phone numbers to fraudsters who talk the helpful customer service people at their phone company into letting them take over the number. The fraudster can then run amok resetting everything. However, I don't think I ever hear about these stories in Japan, which I guess has a slightly more solid standard process for transferring a number than - say - the US.

Has anybody heard about a phone number getting switched out from under the owner in Japan, or do we reckon the system here is reasonably bullet-proof so we don't need to worry about it unless we have very special security needs? 

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Edmund Edgar