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Europol SIMCARTEL SIM-box takedown

Law Enforcement
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1 unique sources, 1 articles

Summary

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Europol and partner police dismantled and seized the SIMCARTEL illegal SIM-box service, cutting off infrastructure used for phishing, investment fraud, impersonation, and extortion. The network used about 1,200 SIM-box devices and 40,000 SIM cards to rent out phone numbers and help create fake accounts while hiding identity and location. Authorities linked the service to more than 3,200 fraud cases and at least EUR 4.5 million in losses. During the October 10 operation, police arrested seven suspects and seized servers, SIM cards, frozen funds, and luxury vehicles.

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Timeline

  1. 17.10.2025 20:01 1 articles · 7mo ago

    SIMCARTEL takedown, arrests, and seizures on October 10

    Campaign Scope Update

    On October 10, European law enforcement carried out Operation SIMCARTEL against an illegal SIM-box service that rented phone numbers for phishing, investment fraud, impersonation, and extortion. Police arrested five Latvian nationals and two other suspects, seized 1,200 SIM-box devices, 40,000 SIM cards, five servers, two websites, frozen funds, and luxury vehicles, and disrupted infrastructure tied to more than 3,200 fraud cases and at least EUR 4.5 million in losses.

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  2. 17.10.2025 20:01 2 articles · 7mo ago

    Europol publicly discloses the SIM-box service takedown on October 17

    Initial Disclosure

    On October 17, Europol announced that the cybercrime service operated through gogetsms.com and apisim.com had been seized, with both websites now showing a law enforcement banner. The announcement also credited a collaborative effort with the Shadowserver Foundation and authorities in Austria, Estonia, Finland, and Latvia, while noting that forensic analysis of the seized servers may help identify customers of the illegal service.

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