{"id":7601,"date":"2025-03-17T13:02:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T13:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/?p=7601"},"modified":"2025-07-15T16:43:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T16:43:32","slug":"the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/","title":{"rendered":"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs)"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all now use one-time passcodes (OTPs) to verify our identity online.<\/p>\n

In the last few weeks, I\u2019ve personally received OTPs from Amazon, Apple, Google, the UK Driving Licence Authority, my pension provider, payments app Yotta, National Savings and parking app Ringgo. Some OTPs were sent to me in text (SMS) messages, others arrived via email.<\/p>\n

Identity authentication online using OTPs is much safer than using a single piece of information like a password. But OTPs are not safe, for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

In the latest episode of \u201cUnseen Money\u201d<\/a> from New Money Review, security researcher Timur Yunusov and I discuss some recent scams that involved stolen OTPs\u2014from a $2m theft from the family of a Moscow teenager to an industrial-scale carding operation in China.<\/p>\n

Our story covers the security of mobile networks, tech giants Apple and Google, the business models of criminal masterminds and bagfuls of stolen phones shipped around the world.<\/p>\n

*************<\/p>\n

The New Money Review podcast<\/a> brings you the best minds from the world of money. <\/em><\/p>\n

From economics to payments, financial markets, technology, law, digital assets, crime and fraud, you’ll find an episode that interests you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all now use one-time passcodes (OTPs) to verify our identity online. In the last few weeks, I\u2019ve personally received OTPs from Amazon, Apple, Google, the UK Driving Licence Authority, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1013,1053,1014],"tags":[2296,2297,2120],"class_list":{"0":"post-7601","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-account","8":"category-featured-1","9":"category-payment","10":"tag-one-time-passcodes","11":"tag-otps","12":"tag-timur-yunusov"},"yoast_head":"\nThe dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs) - New Money Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We all now use one-time passcodes to verify our identity. We get them by SMS and email. But they are not safe. Why?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs) - New Money Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all now use one-time passcodes to verify our identity. We get them by SMS and email. But they are not safe. Why?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New Money Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-17T13:02:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T16:43:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code-1024x682.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Amery\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ameryp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newmoneyreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Amery\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paul Amery\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71bdc8f94d4973d4c5bd2a8fe5a83412\"},\"headline\":\"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs)\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-17T13:02:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-15T16:43:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/\"},\"wordCount\":197,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"one-time passcodes\",\"otps\",\"Timur Yunusov\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ACCOUNT\",\"Featured\",\"PAYMENT\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/\",\"name\":\"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs) - New Money Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-17T13:02:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-15T16:43:32+00:00\",\"description\":\"We all now use one-time passcodes to verify our identity. We get them by SMS and email. But they are not safe. Why?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":933},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/\",\"name\":\"New Money Review\",\"description\":\"A periodical covering the accelerating changes in money\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"New Money Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cropped-nmr_close-crop.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cropped-nmr_close-crop.jpg\",\"width\":1418,\"height\":158,\"caption\":\"New Money Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/newmoneyreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71bdc8f94d4973d4c5bd2a8fe5a83412\",\"name\":\"Paul Amery\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/58b6269b43fc8c137f118222b601e5041bee2cc0e3291a23180bfb7d36499b18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/58b6269b43fc8c137f118222b601e5041bee2cc0e3291a23180bfb7d36499b18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Amery\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/@ameryp\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/author\/paul-amery\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs) - New Money Review","description":"We all now use one-time passcodes to verify our identity. We get them by SMS and email. But they are not safe. Why?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs) - New Money Review","og_description":"We all now use one-time passcodes to verify our identity. We get them by SMS and email. But they are not safe. Why?","og_url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/","og_site_name":"New Money Review","article_published_time":"2025-03-17T13:02:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-15T16:43:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code-1024x682.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul Amery","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ameryp","twitter_site":"@newmoneyreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Amery","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/"},"author":{"name":"Paul Amery","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71bdc8f94d4973d4c5bd2a8fe5a83412"},"headline":"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs)","datePublished":"2025-03-17T13:02:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T16:43:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/"},"wordCount":197,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg","keywords":["one-time passcodes","otps","Timur Yunusov"],"articleSection":["ACCOUNT","Featured","PAYMENT"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/","url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/","name":"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs) - New Money Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-17T13:02:44+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T16:43:32+00:00","description":"We all now use one-time passcodes to verify our identity. We get them by SMS and email. But they are not safe. Why?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg","width":1400,"height":933},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/17\/the-dangers-of-one-time-passcodes-otps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The dangers of one-time passcodes (OTPs)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/","name":"New Money Review","description":"A periodical covering the accelerating changes in money","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#organization","name":"New Money Review","url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cropped-nmr_close-crop.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/cropped-nmr_close-crop.jpg","width":1418,"height":158,"caption":"New Money Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/newmoneyreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71bdc8f94d4973d4c5bd2a8fe5a83412","name":"Paul Amery","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/58b6269b43fc8c137f118222b601e5041bee2cc0e3291a23180bfb7d36499b18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/58b6269b43fc8c137f118222b601e5041bee2cc0e3291a23180bfb7d36499b18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul Amery"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/@ameryp"],"url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/author\/paul-amery\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/code.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7601"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7604,"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7601\/revisions\/7604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}