Rs 1,102 Crore Cyber Fraud Using 5,000 Fake SIM Cards: The Cambodia Racket Busted By Jodhpur Police

Jodhpur : Jodhpur Police have busted a massive international cyber fraud racket in which a gang operating from Cambodia allegedly duped people across India of more than Rs 1,100 crore using fake Indian SIM cards. The investigation, carried out recently under the supervision of Police Commissioner Om Prakash Paswan, revealed that over the past one year, as many as 5,378 fake SIM cards were used to execute the fraud.

According to police, the highest number of these SIM cards, 1,132, were issued in Maharashtra, followed by 756 from Tamil Nadu. These SIM cards were then sent to Cambodia and used for cyber fraud operations. Maharashtra alone accounted for losses of Rs 224 crore through these SIM-based scams. The nationwide probe by Jodhpur Police has also brought Jaipur Police into the picture. Jaipur Police revealed that young men from Rajasthan and other states were lured abroad on the pretext of jobs and taken to Vietnam and later Cambodia, where they were forced to carry out cyber frauds. Their knowledge of Indian regional languages made it easier for cyber criminals to target victims in India.

Earlier this week, Jodhpur Police had arrested six people for duping individuals and selling SIM cards issued in their names. Investigators say the accused are part of a much larger network.

Police Commissioner Paswan said the probe began with an analysis of data from nearly 2.30 lakh SIM cards traced during reverse tracking of cyber fraud cases reported in September, October and November. With assistance from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), police found that around 36,000 SIM cards were on roaming in Cambodia.

Further investigation revealed that 5,378 of these SIM cards were linked to cyber frauds amounting to Rs 1,102 crore. The SIM cards were collected by agents from different Indian states and transported to Cambodia. Police also found that these SIMs were being recharged simultaneously, prompting an inquiry into the role of network service providers.