I started the Athletes.tv podcast. This podcast is something that I began last year as an opportunity to get to know athletes and their stories. This year, I invited James Hagler of James Hagler Promotions to be my co-host. James is the son of Hall of Fame Boxer Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
Many of the athletes that we’ve welcomed on to the podcast have channels on Athletes.tv, however there are some that do not. Our goal is to have fun, informative conversations with athletes and talk about different topics related to sports that fans would be interested in.
You can watch the first episode “Athletes.tv Podcast with MMA Fighter Trever Bradshaw” here below.
This year, we have had a number of professional Boxers on our podcast. We even had an Olympic Gold Medalist on recently. As the Athletes.tv platform grows, I expect to have athletes from various sports on the podcast.
Athletes and sports content creators can request to be a content creator on Athletes.tv and have a free, ad supported channel and/or a paid subscription channel.
Is there someone you’d like me to interview on the Athletes.tv podcast? Or have any questions for me and James? Feel free to reach out to me here and let me know what you think.
Three years ago, on Tuesday, March 20th, 2018 I had my SIM card stolen. What happened to me should never happen to anyone. It did nonetheless, and now I hope that I can help someone, somewhere avoid the hell I went through. I don’t want sympathy, and that’s not what I’m after. After three years of hearing about more and more people experience SIM card theft, I hope to help others avoid what I went through. And I want change. It’s time that leaders in the telecom industry finally step up and make the changes necessary so that SIM card theft doesn’t keep happening.
At 10:57 am on March 20th, 2018, I made a call to my sister. She didn’t answer, and I resumed my work. About an hour later, I went to make another call. As I dialed the number of the person I was calling, my phone line was dead. After my call attempt, I was given the message “Not registered on network”. My initial thought was that if I restarted my phone, everything would work fine. Unfortunately it was not. After restarting my phone, my phone line was still dead and I receive the same message “Not registered on network”.
Despite the message I received after multiple attempts to make a call, I was not too worried that something was wrong with my own phone line. I resumed working and thought that the T-Mobile network must be down.
At about 12:30pm, I checked one of my email accounts. There were seven new messages, and four emails stood out. Those four emails included: 1) A log in to my email address had occurred from a new IP address. 2) My email address password had been successfully changed. 3) Someone had logged in to my Coinbase account from a new IP address. 4) My password had been successfully changed on my Coinbase account.
When I saw those four emails, I knew immediately that my phone issues were due to a SIM card hack. After one click inside my email account, I was locked out of that email account. I immediately tried getting into my Coinbase account, with no success. My next thought was to contact the Coinbase online support. However, I had a problem. I didn’t have access to my phone or email address that was associated with my account. Before I could recover my Coinbase account, I had to regain access to either or both my phone and my email account.
Someone had received a new SIM card for my phone, and in turn, had accessed my Hotmail email account. Within minutes of accessing my Hotmail account, they accessed five cryptocurrency related accounts, and a Twitter account. How could it happen? I was home working, with my phone. As a small business owner that has worked from home for years, my phone is everything. I could have never imagined what was happening, or how it would happen.
After unsuccessful attempts to regain control online of the accounts that I knew I had lost control of, I went to the nearest T-Mobile store. While there at the T-Mobile store, I was able to regain control of my phone and get a new SIM card for my account. Unfortunately, someone had full access to both my cell phone account and my Hotmail account for over four and a half hours.
The T-Mobile store employee that I spoke with told me that someone in Iowa had been given a new SIM card for my account. IOWA!!! How? WHY?I live in Utah, and had been home, making calls from my phone throughout the morning. I was floored by what I was told. As I asked for more details, the T-Mobile rep did not give me any more details, and asked that I call the T-Mobile customer support phone number.
Shortly after getting my new SIM card, I called the local police to report what had happened. They took my information, but told me that there was little they could do. I then called someone that I know at the FBI in Salt Lake City. They put me in touch with a person in the FBI’s cyber crimes unit division. That person took almost an hour of his time to talk with me. He told me that this was not uncommon, and unfortunately there was little they could do unless I’d lost a significant amount of money (over $100,000). They just do not have the resources or time to pursue every case, and unless the loss is over six figures they would not pursue it.
I told the person at the cyber crimes unit that I wasn’t going to lose six figures, as I didn’t have that in the accounts I’d lost access to. He then told me step by step what T-Mobile would do to avoid cooperating with both me and any law enforcement including the FBI. Over the course of the next two months, this person at the FBI proved to spot on.
Over the course of the next two days, I called T-Mobile numerous times trying to get help and answers. Each call led to another customer service rep feeding me the same bullshit response. I’d ask for a manager, only to get no further than what the entry level support was providing. Even though I had my phone back, I still did not have my email account access that I had lost. On four occasions in the 24 hours after I regained access to my phone, I called Hotmail’s customer support and spent four hours on hold EACH call. Their support was somehow worse than T-Mobile’s.
A view of my T-Mobile account two days after being hacked
Two days after the SIM card theft occurred, on Thursday March 22nd, I went to another T-Mobile store to seek answers and ask for help. This was the third T-Mobile store that I’d visited for help in less than 48 hours. Luckily for me, the guys working the store were somewhat helpful.
They looked up my account, and confirmed what I had been told by the T-Mobile rep when I regained access to my account. Someone in Iowa had went in to a T-Mobile reseller and was given a new SIM card for my account at 10:59 am on March 20th. This T-Mobile rep was kind enough to show me the screen to my account history, which I took a picture of.
Why would a T-Mobile rep give a SIM card to someone in Iowa, just 2 minutes after I made my last call while I was in Utah? Since T-Mobile clearly knew which store, and which worker gave my SIM card to another person, why wouldn’t they cooperate and find out who took my SIM card? I wanted to know. That person also hacked my email account, and a number of other accounts.
Just as I was told by the FBI cyber crimes unit in Salt Lake City, T-Mobile never cooperated. They flat out refused to answer my questions. As bad as they were, Microsoft and Hotmail were equally bad. It took me three weeks to regain access to my Hotmail account. THREE WEEKS! They didn’t lock my account for nearly a week. Imagine some hacker having full access to your email account for a full week. What would they see? What information could they get?
While I believe that T-Mobile and all other cell phone carriers shoulder responsibility to prevent SIM card theft from happening, I believe there are things everyone can do to limit their own risk if SIM card theft does occur.
Here are four things that I’ve learned that everyone can do to protect themselves in case of SIM card theft.
Set a PIN code to your cell phone
Delete your important emails from your email inbox
Don’t use SMS as your 2-Factor Authentication
NEVER leave cryptocurrency on an exchange
1. Set a Pin code to your cell phone. I didn’t even know this was an option three years ago. From what I’ve learned since, I know that it can’t fully protect SIM card theft. However, it’s a small step that may be a deterrent.
2. Delete your important emails from your email inbox. Once the person had my SIM card, they took over one of my email addresses very quickly. They had full access to that email account for nearly a week. My experience is not unique. A study by Barracuda and UC Berkeley found that just over a third of hacked corporate email accounts sustained attacks for more than a week.
Imagine what hackers will find in your email if they have access for one day, let alone a full week! Think how much someone can get to know about you, your family, your friends, your interests, your work, etc., if they have access to your email account. How easy would it be to destroy your entire life? This experience has led me to think more about what emails I send to people. What if a hacker gained access to the persons email that I am sending it to. Many people never delete their emails. What am I ok with sending if someone with malicious intent reads the emails I send?
3. Don’t use SMS as your 2 Factor Authentication for website login security. Once someone has taken over your SIM card, they will take access to every single account that you have that uses your phone numbers 2 Factor SMS Authentication. If a company only offers SMS for 2 Factor Authentication, they have no clue what they are doing in their cyber security department. There are other options like Google Authenticator, and many others for 2FA. Don’t ever fall for the SMS 2FA trap!
4. Never leave cryptocurrency on an exchange. I learned the hard way. Once someone gets access to your account, they can transfer whatever crypto you have to another wallet. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Good luck getting help from Coinbase, or any other exchange. It’s impossible. The person who took my SIM card also took all my crypto that I had left on three different exchanges. They also took access and stole all of my crypto that was held on two other wallets that I had. This all could have been avoided by simply keeping crypto on a hardware wallet. You may want to consider a Trezor, or Ledger hardware crypto wallets. There are others that are also worth considering.
In the summer of 2018, I organized and hosted a blockchain and cryptocurrency conference in Park City, Utah. Near the end of the conference, the topic of SIM card theft was brought up. I mentioned my experience, and to my surprise, at least half a dozen others spoke up and mentioned that they had been the victims of SIM card theft as well. Since that conference in July 2018, I’ve had a number of other friends reach out to me and let me know that they too have been the victims of SIM card theft. Unfortunately, SIM card theft is happening far too often.
Ultimately, I hope for change within the telecom industry so these things don’t continue to happen. When they do happen, people need to be held responsible. T-Mobile has never once provided me an answer to my question of who receive my SIM card. There are multiple cameras in every single T-Mobile store I’ve ever been in. They could have found out if they wanted to.
Like I was told by the FBI on the day it happened, T-Mobile would not cooperate. It makes me sick that they would protect the person stealing a SIM card over one of their customers. Who does that? Seriously. There’s too big to fail, and then there’s “too big to care”. After months of trying to get answers, they gave me this weak letter, and a slap in the face “shut up and go away” settlement of very small amount.
It is my hope that everyone can take something away from what I learned from my SIM card theft and limit their own risk. If you think it can’t or it won’t happen to you, then you leave yourself completely vulnerable to everything that happened to me. Trust me, you’d rather not have that happen.
This is my first blog post of 2018, with just over a week left in the year. There has been so much that has happened. Without trying to catch up on every event that has taken place in our lives this year with one blog article, I will just say that I feel blessed and fortunate in so many ways.
Please do not feel bad that you did not receive a Christmas/Holiday card from my wife and I this year. We did not send any out, like many others do. Instead, we put together this short video highlighting some of the things we’ve done this year.
We appreciate all of our family and friends, including those that we have not seen as often and talked with as often as we’d like to this year. It is our hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season and that 2019 will be great for all!
It’s been a few months since I’ve posted on my blog. To say the least, I’ve been extremely busy with both work and my personal life. I’ve started a few other posts that did not get completed and posted.
Recently I’ve made some changes in my business career. I’ve spent 8 years of my life working as a professional sports agent. I am no longer a Certified NFL Agent. That is a big change, however I am as excited as I have ever been about my future and the current work that I’m doing. I can always say that I chased my dreams as an NFL agent with no regrets. I’ll always be thankful for the many people I’ve met in college and professional sports along the way, including many other great agents. I’ve made many lifelong friends that I’m forever grateful for. There have been so many great memories that I’ve had that I’ll always carry with me.
There is a lot that I could and probably should write about regarding my experiences as an NFL agent as a way of helping those who aspire to be a professional sports agent. Today is not that day.
My work in the business side of the sports and entertainment industry is far from over. I have identified a number of marketing opportunities that are not being maximized by both professional athletes and sports teams. My business partner and I, through my marketing company, Marketing 160 are already pursuing helping teams and athletes maximize technology and platforms that can help them bring additional revenue while connecting with their fans.
Stay tuned as I’ll be sharing more about my dealings in the sports and entertainment business in the near future.
I’ve been fortunate to be close friends with the Havili family for nearly 15 years. They are more than just friends of mine. They are family to me. The entire family is as good of family as you will ever meet.
When I first met Stanley Havili, he was a highly recruited high school athlete in Salt Lake City. He went on to play football at USC before being drafted in the NFL. Throughout his entire career, I’ve been able to attend numerous games with his family.
Recently, Stanley shared his personal story about prescription drug use and how it led him to nearly taking his own life. Below are three videos of a recent interview with Stanley sharing his story. He is very open and candid about his experiences and hopes that it can help anyone that may be going through a similar struggle.
Please feel free to share this with anyone that you know that may be struggling with addiction or that may have a family or friend who is struggling with addiction.
Part One – Former USC and NFL Star Stanley Havili talks about Prescription Drug use:
Part Two – Former USC and NFL Star Stanley Havili talks about Prescription Drug use:
Part Three – Former USC and NFL Star Stanley Havili talks about Prescription Drug use:
Feel free to share this post and subscribe for updates to my blog below.
Here are a few things that I wanted to share from this past week. They include the greatest draft pick announcement in the history of professional sports, an entire stadium of hockey fans in Edmonton, Alberta Canada sing the US National Anthem, the University of Utah has announced that they will now offer scholarships for playing video games and 3 members of ISIS were killed by wild pigs.
Drew Pearson Announces the Dallas Cowboys 2nd Round Pick
This past weekend marked the annual NFL Draft. The Draft was held in Philadelphia and it was estimated that a few hundred thousand fans attended over the three days of the draft. On Friday night during the 2nd Round, former Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Drew Pearson was invited to announce the Dallas Cowboys pick. The fans in Philadelphia, whose team the Philadelphia Eagles are arch rivals of the Cowboys, gave Mr. Pearson a warm Philly welcome. It was epic.
NHL Fans in Edmonton Sing the US National Anthem
What happens when the microphone goes out right before you are going to sing the US National Anthem in Canada? Just invite the crowd to sing. That’s what happened this last week in Edmonton, Alberta Canada during the NHL Playoffs. Edmonton, you are awesome!
The University of Utah to Offer Scholarships for Esports
The University of Utah will become the first big-time sports school to offer scholarships for competitive video gaming, so far the most high-profile entry into collegiate esports.
Backed by the Salt Lake City school’s video game development program, Utah’s first varsity esports team will play Riot Games’ popular League of Legends and compete in Riot’s collegiate league. More teams in other games will be announced this year.
Utah is the first school in the “Power Five” — the five richest athletic conferences in college sports — to offer scholarships for video gaming, lending a high-profile endorsement to the the rapidly-growing industry. “We want others schools to join us,” said A.J. Dimick, who will run the new esports program. “Let’s move this along together.”
To continue reading this story on Bloomberg, click here.
Wild boars overrun Islamic State position, kill 3 militants
Three Islamic State militants setting up an ambush in a bitterly contested area of northern Iraq were killed by a herd of stampeding boars, local leaders say.Sheikh Anwar al-Assi, a chief of the local Ubaid tribe and supervisor of anti-ISIS forces, told The Times of London the militants were hiding on the edge of a field about 50 miles southwest of Kirkuk when the boars overwhelmed them Sunday. Five other militants were injured, al-Assi said. He said the group was poised to attack a band of local tribesmen who had fled to nearby mountains since militants seized the town of Hawija three years ago.“It is likely their movement disturbed a herd of wild pigs, which inhabit the area as well as the nearby cornfields,” he said.To continue reading this story on MSN, click here.
Are you into fun runs? Or Super Heros and Villains? Now you can dress up and do a fun run while dressed up as a Hero or Villain. Check it out!
Sports, and football in particular, have been a big part of my life over the past 15 years. This past week, former NFL star and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez allegedly committed suicide in his prison cell. Nearly every sports commentator gave their opinion on his life and outcome. There was a story published last year about Aaron and his brother, Jonathan, that I came across earlier this week. Whether you are a sports fan or not, this story of Aaron Hernandez and his older brother is worth reading. Here it is: Jonathan and Aaron Hernandez
This last week I saw an interview with Robert F Kennedy Jr. He spoke about vaccinations and the need for more analysis. Most people, especially those who have kids, have an opinion one way or another on vaccines and whether or not they are safe. I’ve got family and friends on both sides of this issue. In this interview below, RFK Jr brought up some great points. I hope you will watch this as they are, in my opinion, very valid points. Too often, our society has blind trust in our government and the pharmacutical industry. Let me know what you think.
With the start of the New Year, everyone is following tradition by setting New Years Resolutions. As I mentioned in one of my previous blog posts early this last week, I have been setting goals since I was a kid. A few years ago, I was in a meeting at work and the CEO of the company I was working for at the time spoke to our company about goals and his approach to accomplishing his goals. He showed us a small booklet that included his complete process for setting and accomplishing his goals. The steps in his booklet included the following instructions and information:
Create a compelling personal vision of what you want to accomplish and who you want to become.
Ask yourself what is your why for your vision? The “why” should be strong enough to motivate you to work towards the goals.
Create intermediate goals to help you set and reach milestones on your way to greater goals.
Create daily tasks or daily rituals that will help in accomplishing the intermediate goals.
Review your vision, your intermediate goals and your daily tasks or rituals daily.
I actually recorded with the voice recorder on my phone the CEO’s talk. He gave us a copy of his booklet that he uses, with blank pages for us to write down our own vision statement, our own intermediate goals and our own daily tasks/rituals. To me, this was great information. I have listened to this over and over many times over the past few years.
Rather than continuing to use a booklet that has been filled up, I now use an Excel Spreadsheet in which my daily tasks are on. Each month, or even weekly, I can make changes and updates to my daily tasks and rituals as needed so that I can working towards my intermediate goals.
Two years ago, I came across this talk from Tony Robins (below). After watching the talk by Tony Robins, I realized that what my former CEO had talked about is the exact same things that Tony mentioned in this talk.
If you are setting New Years Resolutions or goals to start this year, you may want to watch this video. It may really help you as you embark on your goal of accomplishing your New Years Resolutions.
When I was young, my grandfather taught me the importance of setting goals. Throughout my life I have taken this advice and set both personal and professional goals. Some I have been able to accomplish and others I have failed to achieve.
At the start of each new year, many people set “New Years Resolutions”. While this is great, it is simply not enough to just set goals. Equally important as setting goals is taking time to evaluate the course we are on towards our goals. Constant self evaluation of our course towards accomplishing these goals will ensure that we accomplish those same goals.
Some things that I feel I must ask myself are:
What did I accomplish?
What did I learn this past year?
What were my failures this past year?
What do I need to improve this next year?
For one, the things that I’ve mentioned above need to be a constant. Daily, weekly and monthly self evaluations with asking the questions listed above will lead to better productivity and likely hood of accomplishing goals.
The year 2016 is one I will always remember. After spending the last eleven years as a divorced, single guy, I got remarried this last April. For me, that accomplishment triumphs all others. I’ve had my failures and I’ve learned a lot along the way. Unfortunately, I’ve had some dear friends pass away as well. They will never be forgotten. To all, I wish you a very Happy and safe New Year. May 2017 bring you all that you hope and work for!
As everyone prepares to wrap up things at work and makes last minute preparations for Christmas, I think it’s important to remember how lucky we all are. Recently, I was driving home after attending a Utah Jazz basketball game in downtown Salt Lake City. Both sides of the streets were lined with homeless people. It wasn’t exactly warm outside, yet hundreds, if not thousands of people were lined up to either sleep on the streets or find a way into homeless shelters. Earlier in the summer, I found myself driving home from a downtown meeting that went late into the night. Again, I was amazed to see how many people were sleeping in the grass medians that divided the north/south lanes of traffic.
This problem of poverty is not unique to Salt Lake City. I have seen it first hand in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, and so many other cities across our country. I have seen it in cities outside our country. Our world has many people who are struggling. For those of us who simply have a roof over our head and food in our homes, we have literally won life’s lottery.
Christmas is so commercialized. We see so much about the hottest tech items, different things that are given and received as presents. In all this, it is so easy to forget that there are so many people in our own cities that are struggling to just have a bed to sleep on at night.
This Christmas, I am thankful for so much that I’ve been blessed with. I often wish that I could do more to help eliminate the suffering that so many go through. No blog or article will solve the world’s problems and I know this. However, with awareness perhaps we can all do just a little more to help make a difference in the year ahead.
Merry Christmas to all who may read this! Have a safe and wonderful week!
