₹77L SIM-swap cyberfraud, six held

Hyderabad: Six people were arrested in connection with a sophisticated SIM-swap cyberfraud, in which the accused couriered preloaded mobile devices to victims to divert OTPs and siphon off ₹77.7 lakh, Cyberabad cybercrime police said at a press briefing on Saturday.

The arrested accused are Selim Mondal, Abdul Alim SK alias Mittu, Saiyad Hasim Reza alias Tippu, Mijanur Rahaman Shaik, Bansidhar, and Mehebub Alam Ansary alias Suraj. They were produced on transit warrants and remanded to judicial custody.

Police said the accused posed as officials of a bank’s premium credit card division and, under the pretext of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) verification, convinced victims to convert e-SIMs into physical SIMs. Victims were then sent mobile devices embedded with malicious applications. Once the SIM cards were inserted, OTPs and banking alerts were diverted to the accused, enabling unauthorised access to accounts and fraudulent online transactions.

During police custody, ₹15 lakh in cash was recovered from their residences in West Bengal. From Selim, six mobile phones, a laptop, five SIM cards, bank-related labels, stickers, and an AUX voice transmitter cable; from Hasim, ₹13 lakh and one mobile phone; from Bansidhar, ₹2 lakh and one mobile phone; and from the remaining accused, three mobile phones were also seized.

Police have advised the public not to share OTPs or SIM-related details with unknown callers and to avoid inserting SIM cards into unverified devices received via courier.

A case was registered under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, and 340(2) of the BNS, and Section 66-D of the IT Act at the Cybercrime Police Station, Cyberabad. Further investigation into the incident is underway.