Europol and partner agencies have dismantled an illegal SIM-box operation that facilitated thousands of telecommunication-related cybercrimes across Europe, in an effort codenamed SIMCARTEL.
The operation involved roughly 1,200 SIM-box devices and 40,000 SIM cards, rented out to criminals to conceal their identities and conduct online fraud.
Authorities in Austria, Estonia, and Latvia, working alongside Europol and Eurojust, linked the criminal network to over 1,700 cyber fraud cases in Austria and 1,500 in Latvia, resulting in total losses of several million euros. The financial damage is estimated at approximately EUR 4.5 million in Austria and EUR 420,000 in Latvia.
Two websites linked to the operation, gogetsms.com and apisim.com, have been seized by law enforcement and now redirect to a Europol page explaining the actions that have been taken. Europol says the service allowed criminals to generate over 49 million fraudulent online accounts.
How the SIM-Box Network Operated
According to Europol, “The criminal network and its infrastructure were technically highly sophisticated and enabled perpetrators around the world to use this SIM-box service to conduct a wide range of telecommunications-related cybercrimes, as well as other crimes.”
The SIM-box service rented phone numbers registered to individuals in more than 80 countries. Customers used these numbers to create and verify fake accounts online, masking their true identities and locations. The service enabled criminals to create fraudulent accounts on social media and messaging platforms, which were then used to carry out cybercrimes while concealing the offenders’ real identities and locations.
The operation uncovered that the criminal network facilitated various cybercrimes, ranging from classic phishing scams to investment fraud, fake websites, daughter-son scams, and other even more serious criminal activity.
Raids and Arrests
On October 10, law enforcement conducted 26 searches across Austria, Estonia, Finland, and Latvia. Five Latvian nationals and two other suspects were arrested. Authorities seized:
- 1,200 SIM-box devices managing 40,000 SIM cards
- Several hundred thousand additional SIM cards
- Five servers and two associated websites
- EUR 431,000 ($500,000) frozen in bank accounts and $333,000 held in cryptocurrency
- Four luxury vehicles
The Shadowserver Foundation assisted Europol in dismantling the digital infrastructure. Seized servers will undergo forensic analysis to help identify customers of the illicit service.
The Broader Impact
The SIMCARTEL takedown underscores how cybercriminals leverage telecommunication tools to mask identity and perpetrate a wide spectrum of online fraud. With the scale of accounts and financial damage involved, authorities stress the importance of international cooperation to combat increasingly sophisticated cybercrime operations.
