21-10-25, 09:45 PM
European law enforcement in an operation codenamed 'SIMCARTEL' has dismantled an illegal SIM-box service that enabled more than 3,200 fraud cases and caused at least 4.5 million euros in losses.
The cybercriminal online services had about 1,200 SIM-box devices with 40,000 SIM cards to provide phone numbers that were used in telecommunication crimes ranging from phishing and investment fraud to impersonation and extortion.
In an announcement today, Europol says that the cybercrime service operated through two websites, gogetsms.com and apisim.com, which have been seized and now display a law enforcement banner.
The fraudulent SIM-box service offered phone numbers registered to individuals in more than 80 countries, and rented them to customers that needed to create and verify fake online accounts, allowing them to hide their true identity and location.
During the SIMCARTEL operation, which occurred on October 10, the police arrested five Latvian nationals, and two other suspects, and seized the following items in the raids:
1,200 SIM-box devices operating 40,000 SIM cards
Hundreds of thousands of SIM cards
Five servers and two websites
EUR 431,000 ($500,000) frozen in bank accounts and $333,000 in crypto accounts
4 luxury vehicles
Hundreds of thousands of SIM cards
Five servers and two websites
EUR 431,000 ($500,000) frozen in bank accounts and $333,000 in crypto accounts
4 luxury vehicles
