Karnataka youth held in Wayanad for alleged SIM swap fraud

Wayanad: The Cyber Police in Wayanad has arrested a fraudster for allegedly obtaining a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card of a fancy mobile number by producing a fake Aadhar card and selling it to another person at an exorbitant rate. According to police, the accused Harish, 27, a native of Chikkabellapur in Karnataka had allegedly ported the mobile number of a Kannur native after obtaining a duplicate SIM card of his fancy number. 

A team of Kalpetta police took the accused into custody from his house on Thursday after receiving a complaint from the BSNL authority in Kannur. Police suspect involvement of SIM swap racket behind the fraud.

Harish executed the crime with proper planning to earn money by selling a fancy mobile number. At first, he prepared his fake Aadhaar card of the Kannur man by pasting his photograph on the fabricated card. Using this, he obtained a duplicate SIM of the fancy mobile number. Later, this BSNL mobile number was ported to the Jio network. Police reported that he also took another SIM card from a Jio outlet at Manjery in Malappuram by producing a fake Aadhar card of a Manjery native. 

The fraud came to light after the Kannur man who lost access to his number filed a complaint with BSNL. Further inquiry exposed the crime executed by the Kannur youth

A thorough investigation of the cyber police team revealed that rackets that supply such SIM cards with fancy numbers have been operating in various parts of the country.  The investigation led to the person who had purchased the SIM card and subsequently led to Harish. Whether the accused had supplied any other fancy number to another customer in the same manner is also under investigation, said police. 

The investigation headed by District Police Chief Padam Singh was carried out by Cyber Crime police station Inspector Shaju Joseph, ASI Suresh Kumar,  Senior Civil Police officers K A Salam, Shukkoor, and Civil Police Officer Rijo Fernandes. 

What is SIM swap fraud?

SIM swapping, also known as SIM jacking, is a fraudulent way of gaining access to someone's mobile number. At first, the fraudsters will collect information on the person including Aadhaar number, address, bank account details etc through phishing or other methods. Later, they will produce a fake identity of the person and convince the cellular provider to issue a duplicate SIM card. After gaining the SIM card, they will port the number to another network. If the fraudster succeeds, calls, texts, and internet capabilities are automatically transferred to the new card, and the old one stops working.

This is a serious crime as the mobile phone number is linked to bank accounts, email, government services and social media accounts. Through SIM swapping, the fraudster can access important OTPs and messages of the person and misuse them for monetary gains.