EDINBURG - An Edinburg man is upset after his cell phone number was allegedly hijacked.

Resident Antonio Del Valle said he got his cellphone number five years ago. Last week, he discovered his Boost Mobile number had been transferred over to Metro PCS without his consent.

The company said someone representing himself as Del Valle called them for the change.

“I talked with Metro PCS and they told me that he had been contacting them all day, which I was unaware of. He claimed that he had lost his telephone and that number belonged to him, and that he needed to recover it,” he said.

Del Valle was the told the person was able to steal his phone number because he somehow knew his pin code.

He said he’s never shared that code with anyone. He added now his family is his major concern.

“The main problem for me is my children, because we have to be able to communicate with each other because of whatever they may need or anything I may need,” he said. “They still don’t know that I lost that number. I’ve called a few people and they have told me that when they called the other number, someone answers who tells them to mind their own business.”

Mauricio Luna with Boost Mobile said the problem has become quite common. He said people need to protect their personal information.

“It’s very important for them to protect their pin number. Just keep their pin secured. There shouldn’t be any problem with their phone number… Make it something easy to remember, but hard for other to guess,” he said.

Luna said the problem is spreading across the Rio Grande Valley.

In our visit, we learned situation like Del Valle’s can happen because no ID is required if someone attempts to move a phone number to another provider. They only have to provide the PIN code, cellphone number and name of the original account holder.