In a major crackdown on sophisticated cybercrime, the Delhi Police has dismantled a transnational syndicate and arrested seven individuals for orchestrating a massive 'digital arrest' scam that defrauded citizens across India. The racket, which used illegal SIM box technology to mask international calls as local numbers, is estimated to have cheated thousands of victims of approximately Rs 100 crore.
How the SIM Box 'Digital Arrest' Scam Worked
The accused exploited SIM box devices, which can hold hundreds of SIM cards, to reroute international calls through local Indian numbers. Victims received calls from fraudsters impersonating officials from the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). The callers falsely accused them of involvement in terror incidents like the Pahalgam attack and Delhi blasts, threatened immediate arrest, and used intense psychological pressure to coerce them into transferring money.
To evade detection, the syndicate deliberately routed these fraudulent calls through low-frequency 2G networks, making real-time location tracking difficult. Although the calls appeared to originate from Indian numbers, they were actually placed from abroad—primarily Cambodia—and channeled into India via hidden SIM box installations.
International Links and Sophisticated Evasion Techniques
The investigation revealed a complex international command structure. Cambodia served as the recruitment and training base, Chinese nationals supplied and configured the SIM box hardware, a Pakistani handler facilitated funding and IMEI manipulation, while Nepal functioned as a remote control centre directing Indian operations.
The accused used advanced methods to mislead law enforcement, including overwriting and rotating IMEI numbers and merging multiple SIM box units into a single virtual system. This manipulation caused call records to show the same number calling from multiple cities on the same day.
The Arrests and Pan-India Network
A team led by DCP (IFSO) Vinit Kumar first arrested Shashi Prasad (53), the custodian of a SIM box setup in Delhi, and Parvinder Singh (38), an active facilitator operating from five locations in the capital.
The probe then led to the arrest of Taiwanese national I-Tsung Chen (30) at Delhi's international airport. Police identified him as the operational backbone, responsible for smuggling and configuring SIM box devices in India. His interrogation revealed alleged links to a Taiwan-based organised crime network led by gangster Shang Min Wu.
Further investigation uncovered SIM box hubs in Mohali, Punjab, leading to the arrest of Sarbdeep Singh (33) and Jaspreet Kaur (28). Both had previously worked in Cambodia-based scam centres and were allegedly recruited by a Pakistani handler. The network extended to Coimbatore and Mumbai, where Dinesh K (30) and Abdus Salam (33) were arrested for attempting to install more SIM box systems.
Police have seized 22 SIM box devices and 120 foreign China Mobile SIM cards. Technical analysis has uncovered over 5,000 compromised IMEI numbers and nearly 20,000 SIM cards embedded in this fraudulent network. The racket had been operational since September last year, and further investigation is ongoing.
