29 SIM Boxes and Thousands of SIM Cards Used in Smishing Seized in Australia, Six Arrested

• A joint operation in Australia aimed at thwarting SMS phishing campaigns nationwide yielded the arrest of six suspects.
• Authorities confiscated several SIM boxes used in the scamming operation, as well as thousands of SIMs.
• Mobile phones, laptops, gift cards, cash, and valuable items were also located and seized in these searches.

Last week, 29 SIM boxes and thousands of SIM cards used by criminals for SMS phishing were seized during raids in several Australian states, as an Australia Police Force report announced. Of these, 26 cellular devices were located in New South Wales and three in Victoria. Also, four people were arrested in NSW and two in Victoria in connection to these smishing scams.

NSW Police initiated the investigation in March, and police agencies across Australia joined forces on July 18 in a National Day of Action coordinated by the AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3), executing six search warrants in several suburbs in New South Wales and Victoria.

Large-scale smishing attacks often employ SIM boxes, using various lures to trick victims into downloading malware or divulging sensitive information. The alleged offenders are suspected of deploying smishing campaigns to obtain personal information from Australians through their banking or government-affiliated online accounts.

Searches in Victoria led to the seizing of three 16-slot SIM boxes, nine mobile phones, three laptops, stolen identity documents, and over 500 used SIM cards from a Melbourne address. The police also located SIM box parts, $25,000 in gift cards, two luxury watches, and a gel blaster at a Doncaster location.

Cybercrime Squad detectives seized 26 SIM boxes, thousands of mobile SIM cards, over 500 mobile phones and gift cards, $166,000 in cash, and two luxury vehicles valued at $330,000 in NSW.

Among the suspects expected to be charged on summons are a 23-year-old Sydney man, a 25-year-old Burwood man, another 25-year-old man arrested at Wolli Creek, a 32-year-old Melbourne woman, and a 29-year-old Doncaster man

They were arrested and interviewed in relation to Commonwealth offenses, including using network-connected equipment to commit a serious offense and dishonestly obtaining/dealing in personal financial information.

According to local authorities, the scammers made millions of dollars by sending 318+ million messages over the past several months using the SIM boxes seized in NSW. Victorian authorities suggested the locally seized boxes may have been used for hundreds of thousands of text messages daily.