Investigators from Austria, Estonia, and Latvia spearheaded the probe, linking the criminal network to over 3,200 cases of fraud, including fake investment scams and emergency call frauds designed for quick financial gain. The financial toll of the operation reached approximately $5.3 million in Austria and $490,000 in Latvia, highlighting the global scale of the scheme.
The coordinated action, conducted primarily on October 10 in Latvia, resulted in the arrest of seven suspects and the seizure of 1,200 SIM box devices loaded with nearly 40,000 active SIM cards. Authorities also discovered hundreds of thousands of unused SIM cards, along with five servers, two websites, and several luxury vehicles. Around $833,000 in funds across bank and cryptocurrency accounts were also frozen during the operation.
According to Europol, the infrastructure was designed to mask the true identities and locations of perpetrators, allowing them to create fake social media and communication accounts for cybercrimes. “The network enabled criminals to establish fraudulent online profiles that concealed their real identity and were then used to carry out phishing and financial scams,” Europol said in a statement.
Investigators have traced the network to over 49 million fake accounts believed to have been created and distributed by the suspects. These accounts were used in a range of crimes, including extortion, smuggling, and online marketplace scams, as well as fake investment and e-commerce schemes.
The operation highlights the growing global threat of SIM farms—collections of SIM boxes that allow cybercriminals to automate scams, send spam, and commit fraud while remaining undetected by telecom providers. These systems have become a preferred tool for large-scale phishing and social engineering attacks worldwide.
Just weeks earlier, the U.S. Secret Service dismantled a similar network in New York City, seizing over 300 servers and 100,000 SIM cards spread across several locations.
Cybersecurity intelligence firm Unit 221B also issued a warning that SIM farms are rapidly multiplying and putting telecom providers, banks, and consumers at risk. “We’ve identified at least 200 SIM boxes operating across dozens of U.S. sites,” said Ben Coon, Chief Intelligence Officer at Unit 221B.
While the SIMCARTEL takedown marks a major victory for law enforcement, Europol noted that investigations are still underway to uncover the full extent of the criminal infrastructure. Authorities emphasize that combating SIM box networks is essential to defending users against phishing, identity fraud, and telecom-based cyberattacks that continue to grow in sophistication and scale.
