Delhi Police Bust Major SIM Box Racket; 7 Cyber Masterminds Including Taiwanese National Arrested

The IFSO unit of Delhi Police has dismantled a large-scale SIM Box cyber fraud operation, arresting seven alleged masterminds - including a Taiwanese national - in a crackdown on one of the most sophisticated telecom-based scam networks operating across India.

The arrests were made on January 9, 2026, following weeks of technical surveillance and analysis of suspicious call routing patterns. Investigators said the racket was illegally routing international calls and bulk SMS as domestic traffic using thousands of forged SIM cards, enabling phishing, fake loan offers and investment scams that targeted citizens nationwide.

Inside the SIM Box Fraud Empire

SIM Boxes are specialised devices capable of holding hundreds of SIM cards at once. In this case, they were used to disguise foreign-origin calls as Indian numbers, helping fraudsters bypass telecom regulations and appear trustworthy to unsuspecting victims.

Police recovered more than 5,000 SIM cards, high-capacity SIM boxes, servers and crypto-linked digital wallets during raids conducted across Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Funding trails pointed towards handlers in Dubai and China, with local operatives managing SIM activation using forged KYC documents.

Officials said the operation had already caused losses exceeding ₹50 crore, with over 500 complaints traced to the network. Similar misuse of financial systems has also raised concerns across legitimate sectors - including bookkeeping services in India - where maintaining clean audit trails has become critical to prevent fraud infiltration.

Arrests and Ongoing Probe

Among those arrested was a Taiwanese national who allegedly coordinated hardware procurement and technical setup. Indian associates handled SIM procurement, mule account management and local logistics. FIRs have been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act, while Interpol coordination is underway to track overseas links.

Investigators also linked the SIM Box infrastructure to a fake job portal scam uncovered in December 2025, where SMS blasts impersonated government recruitment notifications to defraud students and job seekers.

Why SIM Box Frauds Are Rising

Cybercrime experts note that SIM Box fraud now fuels nearly 60% of financial scams in India. Despite telecom operators blocking millions of suspicious numbers annually, grey markets continue to exploit document forgery and cross-border networks to stay operational.

Delhi Police officials said advanced call data record (CDR) analysis and IMEI mapping helped crack this case, and further arrests are expected as hawala and cryptocurrency trails are examined.

Public Advisory

Authorities have urged citizens to remain cautious of unsolicited calls or messages offering loans, investments or jobs. Suspicious communications should be reported immediately to telecom helplines or the national cybercrime portal to improve chances of prevention and recovery.