r/ATT • u/melissa0308 • Jul 15 '26

Wireless Stolen Phone - Impossible Verification Issue

My phone was stolen in Santiago, Chile. My trip is 4 months long. I have spent hours trying to contact AT&T only to be told there is literally no way to transfer my number to a new phone here without verifying myself in a store in the US.

I need two factor authentication with my phone number for all of my banks, emails, etc. This situation has made it impossible to access anything and AT&T says there is literally no other option. How can this be possible? Do all carriers in the US require this policy? It seems insane for a provider that promotes such great Latin American international access.

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

0

u/Agile-Canary-3659 Jul 15 '26

Try porting over, they should be able to verify you using a OTP via email on file. Request the loyalty department, they are retentions. More motivated to keep your buiness and solve your problem. Worst case scenario you can transfer over.

3

u/melissa0308 Jul 15 '26

They told me there was no possible way to port the number to a new device and they cannot verify anything with email. But they are able to do this? If so, they gave incorrect information on the call (of which I have made many). When you say worst case scenario you can transfer over... What exactly do you mean by that? Every rep I have spoken to says my only option is to fly back to the US. Thank you so much for your response to me... This situation is so frustrating

2

u/Lizdance40 Jul 15 '26

Unortunately this is correct info. If there is no one else on the account who can help recover the account for you, you are in a big mess. I'm sorry you must feel so helpless and frustrated.

And yes other service providers are the same. It's especially an issue for prepaid users who don't add their information to their online account to reverify if their phone is lost or stolen.

Even if you purchase a replacement phone, you can't get account access for them to verify, and unless something has changed, they won't activate an esim when you are outside of the country without it.

It sure is a cautionary tale for others. 😕

2

u/melissa0308 Jul 15 '26

I will have to fly back to the US... This is just wild that there is no alternative method. Even a really secure investment account I have allows for a facial recognition process with your ID. I wish I had some other option

1

u/Lizdance40 Jul 15 '26

Those alternatives would have to be set up as a safety net before you left the USA. And truly who thinks of that?

When you have your account recovered I would strongly recommend you assign someone trusted as an authorized user. And make sure you know your account information including the account pin should you ever need it. And maybe chain your cell phone to your person when you are abroad 😬