Operation FAST: Rural Adults Aged 18–45 On Radar Of Cyber Crooks

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The rural people between 18 to 45 years of age are the vulnerable target of the cyber fraudsters as their biometric data is often misused to source fake SIMs for national and international cyber frauds, as per officials.

Now the cyber police, with the help of the district police force, has launched Operation FAST (Forged Activated SIM Termination) across the state.

During investigations, the cyber police segregated the crime data and found that the fraudsters had targeted the rural population to source SIMs. 

Cyber SP Pranay Nagwanshi told the Free Press that five districts namely Sidhi, Chhatarpur, Datia, Dindori and Shivpuri had emerged as the prime hotspots for supply of fake SIM cards to cyber fraudsters. Such cards had also reached south-east Asian countries.

The SP said it was found during investigations that thumb impressions/fingerprints of people aged between 18 and 45 years from rural areas were used in around 60% cases of fake SIM cards.

Such cards were supplied to cyber fraudsters operating from Indian states like Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, UP and Delhi, besides international crime syndicates operating from south-east Asian nations, particularly Cambodia and Thailand.

He warned that everyone who was giving fingerprints or thumb impressions on devices at SIM cards point of sale (PoS) should be alert and question the staff.. They should be careful to prevent their genuine ID details from being used to generate SIM cards for use by cyber fraudsters.

Certain SIM-card PoS operators have been found using customers’ ID credentials and biometric details like thumb or fingerprint data to obtain SIM cards in bulk that are later used by cyber-fraud rackets.