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Express News Service
CHENNAI: Scamsters have come up with a relatively new method to dupe mobile network companies. Using a device called SIM box, they are diverting international calls to make them look like local calls, resulting in loss for the mobile company concerned.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior cyber crime official said by paying local rates to mobile carriers or nothing at all after invoicing international rates from the source, SIM box scams result in losses to the telecom operators. “Once the calls are converted, the local telecom operator will not receive the original tariff rates, which results in revenue loss,” he said.
Not just revenue losses, the SIM box scams also mask the original identity of the caller, and using this technique, all sorts of crimes can take place. “As the conversion of international calls to local ones takes place through the internet, any person can operate this from any part of the world. So this becomes a threat to national security as well,” the officer said.
Regarding the monetary benefits for the scamsters, the officer said, “The kingpin of the scam pays those who operate the SIM box. An amount is fixed, and it is paid monthly. Those who take care of the internet and its issues get paid a minimum of Rs 50,000 to 1 lakh.”
In November, two persons were arrested from Chennai for using SIM boxes and duping BSNL. The police recovered four SIM boxes, 130 SIM cards, two modems, one laptop and four mobile phones from them. The issue came to light when BSNL lodged a complaint with the Chennai City Police Commissioner. Another cyber crime police officer said the suspects got the SIM boxes and SIM cards from a man in Bangladesh.
“The person also gave Rs 35,000 to the duo to run the set up and supervised it online from Bangladesh,” he said. According to the police, the duo had set up an ‘illegal telephone exchange’ in two houses at Aminjikarai to scam telephone networks.
Talking further about the scam, the senior officer said even if the local numbers are traced, they will lead only to the SIM box and the card. “It becomes very difficult to zero in on the person who runs the entire scam,” he added.
In July, a man was arrested from Bengaluru for a SIM box scam, and in September, a SIM box scam racket was busted in Odisha, leading to the arrest of six people.
What’s SIM box
A SIM box diverts international calls to a mobile device through the internet. This device will be able to use hundreds of SIM cards, which are frequently obtained using false identities, to route connections back into the network as local calls.
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