How do SMS diversion scams let criminals steal OTPs?

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SMS diversion scams steal OTPs by redirecting or intercepting the text messages before they reach the victim.

SMS diversion scams are a newer and more technical form of fraud in which criminals compromise phone networks and then capture one-time passwords, or OTPs, sent by banks and other services. Once the OTP is intercepted, the criminal can use it to complete account access or fraudulent transactions, because OTPs are designed as a second layer of verification.
OTPs are the short codes used to confirm a login or transaction
An OTP is a temporary code sent by SMS to verify that the person trying to sign in or approve a payment is the account holder. In normal use, the code is entered once and then expires, which is why it is widely used by banks and payment services. If a criminal gets that code first, the protection is weakened immediately.
The scam depends on access to the phone network
The key step is not tricking the victim into handing over the code, but getting into the path of the message itself. In practice, SMS diversion can involve SIM swap abuse, call or SMS forwarding, or other network-level interception methods, all of which can cause the OTP to be redirected away from the intended phone. The text describes this as a complex and technical scheme.
Why this makes account takeover easier
With the OTP in hand, criminals can move past the extra verification step that many banks use for sensitive actions. That is why these scams are dangerous even when a password is not stolen, because the second factor is what often blocks unauthorised access. The result can be account takeover, card misuse, or unauthorised transactions.
Ordinary users have limited protection once the network is compromised
The text says there is not much an ordinary user can do to defend against this kind of attack. That is why banks and telecom operators matter so much in prevention, since the attack relies on infrastructure rather than simple user error. In this kind of fraud, the weak point is often the network path carrying the OTP, not the phone owner’s behaviour.

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How do SMS diversion scams let criminals steal OTPs?

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