SIM boxes linked to 300 nat’l cyber cases seized from Chennai firm

CHENNAI: Their front-end operations is as a vendor for major banks, providing asset recovery services. But for over a year and half, their firm housed SIM boxes, which are linked to over 300 cybercrime complaints from across the nation.

On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu Police's Cyber Crime Wing, in a joint operation with the Department of Telecommunications, raided the premises of Forte management services, a BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) firm operating out of a commercial complex in Saidapet, and seized 11 SIM boxes and 182 SIM cards, allegedly linked to 301 National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) complaints reported from various parts of the country, including 52 cybercrime complaints registered in Tamil Nadu.

A SIM box is a device that houses multiple SIM cards that routes internet calls through the local mobile network, making an international fraud call appear as a local call.

The search was carried out based on a tip-off from I4C (Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre), a Home Ministry initiative that coordinates with law enforcement agencies across the country.

"The equipment was found to be operating without the requisite licence or authorisation from competent authorities. The unauthorised SIM box setup had the potential to be exploited by cybercriminals to facilitate cyber-enabled offences by using multiple SIM cards to make fraudulent calls, impersonate government officials or other entities, conceal the identity and location of the callers and evade conventional telecom tracking mechanisms.

Such facilities can be misused in organised cyber fraud networks, particularly for targeting unsuspecting members of the public through impersonation and other forms of telephone-based fraud," an official statement from Tamil Nadu Police.

Two persons — Srinivasan, a manager, and Sanjay, an IT Department employee, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the unauthorised setup, said S Selva Nagarathinam, Superintendent of Police, TN Cyber Crime Wing.

On their website, Forte Management Services describe themselves as a reputed vendor dealing with collection and recovery of non-performing assets for all major banks and financial institutions in the southern part of the country.

"Whether the telecallers and the top management were actively involved is under investigation, but the SIM boxes in their premises were used by cyber criminals, and they are not legally allowed to use them," an investigating officer told DT Next, adding, "As per the NCRP portal, the seized SIM cards have been linked to cyber crimes reported since the end of 2024."

Preliminary investigations have revealed that some of the SIM cards were bought in the names of the staff by a local agent; whether they have any role in the suspected cyber frauds has not been established yet, the officer said.

"A SIM box is hard to trace and I4C too goes through a laborious process to locate a SIM box. It is important to secure the device first even before making an arrest, as the box can be shifted to a nearby location and you will have to start from the scratch," said the officer.

When cyber crime officials searched the premises of Forte management, the SIM box setup was shrouded in an amplifier setup.

According to officials, the seized SIM box is linked with various kinds of cyber frauds, including investment frauds, digital arrest, and even a case of child sexual exploitation and abusive material was flagged.

"We will be focusing on the Tamil Nadu cases and gradually probe complaints linked to other states too," the official said. Cyber Crime Wing officials said that the remand process of the arrested persons was underway.

SEIZED ITEMS

*10 SIM boxes with 64 SIM slots each

*7 SIM boxes with 32 SIM slots each

*1 damaged SIM box

*2 CPUs

*2 servers

*182 SIM cards

PUBLIC ADVISORY

*Do not blindly trust the identity of callers, even if the displayed telephone number appears genuine

*Be alert to calls from persons claiming to be police officers, CBI, ED, TRAI, DoT, bank officials or other government authorities

*Citizens are encouraged to report suspicious calls through, either on the national cyber crime reporting portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) or call cyber crime helpline 1930