SIM card fraud: Kolkata police arrest 8 for selling activated cards to cyber fraudsters
Telegraph | 27 February 2025
A group that allegedly activated SIM cards in the names of real people without their knowledge or consent and sold them to cyber fraudsters has been identified and arrested.
Kolkata Police have arrested eight people so far in connection with the case registered suo motu by their cyber wing.
“These people who have been arrested are in charge of points of sale of different telecom companies. They are manipulating the biometric devices given to them to record the fingerprint of the purchaser of the SIM card,” said Rupesh Kumar, joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata Police.
POS handlers
POS handlers are authorised sellers of SIM cards who collect the KYC (Know Your Customer) documents from those who purchase a SIM card.
Police said not all POS handlers were cheats but there were many misusing their tools and cheating people.
The eight arrested were allegedly operating from pockets of Baguiati, Beleghata, Sealdah, Pragati Maidan and Topsia.
Biometric device
How can such a device be manipulated? A biometric authentication device is usedto get the unique fingerprint of a person purchasing a SIM card.
The purchaser is asked to press the device with the thumb so the digital impression is recorded.
The police said fraudsters were using a thin layer of a glue-like substance on the device to emboss the physical imprint of the finger.
“Without disturbing the glue-like substance after someone has given his or her fingerprint, if someone presses it, the fingerprint of theperson that has been embossed earlier will be reflected again,” said an officer of the cyber cell.
This means multiple SIM cards can be issued using one person’s fingerprint.
What should you do?
Customers who go to purchase a SIM card should check the biometric device properly and look out for any glue-like material or substance that could trace their fingerprint, the police said.
“The POS handlers who have a vested interest sometimes also trick the customers into believing that the fingerprint imprint during thefirst attempt of pressing the biometric device has failed and that the customer needsto press it again,” an officer said.
Customers should look out for such lies, the cops said.
SIM cards
Where are these fraudulently created SIM cards going?
The police said theseSIM cards were being sold to cyber fraudsters for cybercrimes.
Some of these SIM cardswere found to have beenused to dupe people based in foreign countries, too, the cops said.
The police said any cybercrime — be it “digital arrest”, sextortion or OTP fraud — starts with obtaining a SIM card that is issued in someone else’s name.
Arrests
Sources in the police said the arrests were made based on data obtained from the National Cyber Crime Portal.
Based on the data, it was found that a large number of SIM cards used for various types of cyber frauds across the country have beenissued from Bengal, the sources said.
The police started an investigation and tracked down some of the POS handlers through whom a large number of SIM cards used for fraudulent activities had been issued.
So far, the police have seized 729 SIM cards.
These SIM cards, issued in names of people without their knowledge or consent, have been seized from the eight arrested POS handlers.
The police said they had also seized nine biometric authentication devices from the possession of the arrested.