In a significant crackdown on international cybercrime, the Delhi Police has dismantled a sophisticated transnational syndicate that used illegal SIMBOX technology to defraud citizens across India. The operation led to the arrest of seven individuals, including a Taiwanese national and a woman, with the network having direct links to scam operators in China, Cambodia, and Pakistan.
The Mechanics of the "Digital Arrest" Scam
The racket, which has been operational since September last year, employed a terrifying method known as a "digital arrest" scam. Victims received calls from individuals impersonating officials from the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). The callers falsely accused the targets of having connections to terror incidents like the Pahalgam attack and the Delhi blasts. Under extreme psychological pressure and threats of immediate arrest, victims were coerced into transferring large sums of money.
To evade detection, the syndicate used a clever technical trick. They routed their fraudulent calls through low-frequency 2G networks, which made real-time location tracking nearly impossible for authorities. The core of their operation was the deployment of illegal SIMBOX systems. These devices masked international calls, making them appear as if they were originating from domestic Indian numbers. In reality, the calls were placed from abroad, primarily Cambodia, and smuggled into India's telecom network through hidden SIMBOX setups.
A Web of International Connections
The investigation, led by DCP (IFSO) Vineet Kumar's special team, first led to the arrest of Shashi Prasad (53), the custodian of a Delhi-based SIMBOX setup, and Parvinder Singh (38), an active facilitator. They operated from five locations across Delhi, knowingly enabling the international fraud.
A major breakthrough came with the arrest of I-Tsung Chen (30), the Taiwanese national, at Delhi's international airport. Police identified Chen as the principal operational backbone, responsible for smuggling and configuring the SIMBOX devices in India. Interrogation revealed he was a key operative of a Taiwan-based organised crime network allegedly led by gangster Shang Min Wu.
The probe uncovered a complex international hierarchy:
- Cambodia served as the recruitment and training base.
- Chinese nationals supplied and configured the SIMBOX hardware.
- A Pakistani handler facilitated funding and technical manipulation of IMEI numbers.
- Nepal operated as the remote control centre directing Indian operations.
Further arrests included Sarbdeep Singh (33) and Jaspreet Kaur (28) in Mohali, Punjab. Both had previously worked in Cambodia-based scam centres and were allegedly recruited by a Pakistani handler. Attempts to install SIMBOX setups in Coimbatore and Mumbai led to the arrests of Dinesh K (30) and Abdus Salam (33).
Technical Sophistication and Scale of Fraud
The syndicate employed advanced methods to stay under the radar. They manipulated SIMBOX devices by overwriting and rotating IMEI numbers, making device identification extremely difficult. Special software merged multiple SIMBOX units into a single virtual system, dynamically rotating IMEIs and SIM cards. This resulted in call detail records showing the same number originating from multiple cities in a single day, deliberately misleading law enforcement.
The scale of the operation was massive. Police seized 22 SIMBOX devices and 120 foreign SIM cards from China Mobile. Technical analysis revealed over 5,000 compromised IMEI numbers and nearly 20,000 SIM cards embedded within the network. Officials estimate that thousands of victims across multiple states were cheated of approximately Rs 100 crore through this foreign-controlled infrastructure.
This case highlights the evolving threat of transnational cybercrime targeting Indian citizens and the sophisticated use of telecom technology to perpetrate fraud on a massive scale.
