Cyber slavery: UP cops bust Southeast Asia racket's India link for SIM cards, OTPs

Saharanpur  On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh Police said they had discovered a network that utilised the identities of Indian nationals to enable cybercrimes from Southeast Asian nations, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

The Saharanpur police said a group of people allegedly secured SIM cards fraudulently by getting them issued on stolen identities and provided OTPs to foreign thugs, who used them to commit large-scale online frauds and human trafficking through digital platforms.

A type of digital exploitation known as "cyber slavery" occurs when people are forced or trafficked, frequently by coercion or fraud, into committing cybercrimes like phishing, online scams, or fraud operations, usually in cruelty and abuse.

 On December 29, 2024, a local resident named Rohit Dhiman filed a complaint at the Saharanpur Cyber Crime police station alleging that his Aadhaar credentials had been misused to issue SIM cards without his knowledge or consent. Senior Superintendent of Police Ashish Tiwari told reporters that this triggered the start of the investigation.

 Police responded to the complaint by identifying a gang that was routinely obtaining Aadhaar and PAN information from SIMs, frequently by deception, according to Tiwari.

According to the SSP, after these SIMs were activated, they were used to send OTPs to Southeast Asian cybercriminals, who would then use them to access Indian WhatsApp accounts and use them for illegal online operations.

 According to the officer, "Vipin Kumar, one of the key accused, was found to have issued 873 SIM cards by manipulating Aadhaar information." He also allegedly gathered fingerprints and photos while pretending to be registering people for government welfare programs like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

 Vipin issued several SIM cards using the people's Aadhaar credentials without telling them.  According to the officer, these SIMs were subsequently given to those who delivered OTPs to overseas clients.

Additionally, he claimed that Sachin Kumar, another accused, worked for telecom companies as a point-of-sale representative and gathered consumer information that eventually assisted in SIM card activation.

 "On several occasions, he falsely informed customers that their SIMs could not be issued due to technical issues while he had already used their credentials to activate multiple SIMs," Tiwari claimed.

 Police claim that Sachin activated more than 1,000 SIM cards on his own, which he subsequently gave to his accomplices.

The scam also includes two Uttarakhandi women, named as Huma and Anterfa.  Sachin allegedly gave them more than 1,700 SIM cards, which they then used to send out OTPs in return for payments that ranged from ₹80 to ₹100 each.

 Another accused, Mohtsin, who is already incarcerated on forgery charges, instructed the two ladies in fraudulent tactics while they were members of global WhatsApp groups that purported to give online jobs.

 Other collaborators have also been discovered by the police, such as Sajan Kaushik, another PoS agent who gave SIM cards to Dushyant and Mangeram, the brothers of Huma and Vipin Kumar.

 According to authorities, searches are underway to apprehend Vipin's brothers.

Further investigations are underway to trace financial transactions linked to the racket and establish the full extent of the network, the police said, adding that the accused face charges under various provisions of the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.