Fake SIM Card Racket Busted, 2 Held From Godavari Districts

Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam Cyber Crime Police busted a fake SIM card racket that supplied thousands of fraudulent mobile connections to cybercrime gangs operating in Cambodia and Thailand. Two persons were arrested for running the illegal operation.

The accused, Ganta Ramakrishna, 34, a Vodafone distributor from Nidadavolu in East Godavari district, and his assistant, Adapa Kondababu, 37, from Tadepalligudem in West Godavari district, were apprehended following a surveillance operation.

The police said the duo exploited the SIM activation process to illegally create hundreds of fake connections. Their modus operandi involved deceiving customers who visited their Point of Sale (POS) outlet by claiming their iris scans were not properly captured and requesting a second biometric scan. Using these duplicate scans, they would secretly activate additional SIM cards in the customers' names without their knowledge, said the police.

The accused activated approximately 500 to 600 fake SIMs monthly, which were then distributed to associates identified as Kondababu, Sarath and Venkatesh. These fake SIM cards were used in a cybercrime operation. Using each fraudulent SIM, the network created 5-6 Gmail accounts and up to 20 social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Telegram and WhatsApp, the police said.

Police revealed that the accused exploited the legitimate SIM activation process, which requires distributors to use specialised apps and meet monthly activation targets of at least 250 new SIMs. By manipulating the biometric data collection process and taking advantage of customers seeking SIM upgrades or replacements, they created duplicate activations, the investigators revealed.

The police said the fake SIMs were reportedly sold to outsiders for as little as `30-40 each and used for various cybercrimes, including task fraud, investment scams, OTP fraud and credit card fraud.