The Lucknow Police Crime Branch has dismantled an illegal e-SIM activation syndicate that supplied fraudulently generated Indian mobile numbers to international cybercrime syndicates. The racket was uncovered during an investigation into a high-value ₹70-lakh “digital arrest” cyber fraud perpetrated against the wife of a retired airport director. Law enforcement authorities have arrested two key operatives, identified the primary handler, and frozen ₹35 lakh in bank accounts linked to the illicit financial trail. The investigation revealed a sophisticated pipeline that converted stolen identities into remote e-SIM profiles sold on dark markets and messaging platforms to foreign cybercriminals, primarily based in China.
Modus Operandi: Fraudulent e-KYC and Illegal e-SIM Conversion
The investigation gained momentum after the cybercrime police station tracked the initial phone call used to impersonate law enforcement officers in the ₹70-lakh digital arrest scam. Technical analysis traced the originating mobile number to a Point of Sale (PoS) telecom outlet operating in Lucknow. Further verification established that the SIM card had been issued in the name of an economically disadvantaged individual who was completely unaware that his Aadhaar credentials had been used to activate a connection utilized by international fraudsters.
Investigators subsequently arrested Sumit Kumar Rawat, an authorized SIM PoS agent, and Ishu Yadav, who provided nearly 100 blank SIM cards to facilitate the operation. According to Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Kiran Yadav, Sumit executed a deceptive double e-KYC authentication scheme on walk-in customers seeking new connections or mobile number portability. Claiming that the digital verification portal had encountered a technical error, Sumit convinced customers to scan their biometrics and complete the Aadhaar-based e-KYC process twice. While one SIM card was lawfully issued to the customer, the second biometric verification was used to fraudulently activate an unauthorized connection without the victim’s knowledge.
Once activated, Sumit converted the physical SIM connections into digital e-SIM profiles and generated the corresponding QR codes. This enabled remote activation of the Indian phone numbers on devices located anywhere globally without requiring physical SIM insertion.
Global Distribution via Telegram and Crypto Transactions
The investigation revealed that Sumit sold the generated e-SIM QR codes for ₹325 each to the operation’s mastermind, identified as Praveen Srivastava (alias Amit). Srivastava subsequently marketed these fraudulently activated Indian e-SIM profiles through private Telegram channels, catering to overseas cybercrime networks. Foreign syndicates—predominantly operating out of China—purchased the e-SIM profiles for approximately 50 Tether (USDT) per profile.
To evade traditional financial tracking, payments were routed through the BYBIT cryptocurrency exchange via peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. During the raid, police recovered 144 USDT from Srivastava’s digital crypto wallet. Possession of active Indian phone numbers allowed overseas fraudsters to bypass geo-blocking security controls, make spoofed local calls, receive automated OTPs, and establish trust while executing complex extortion schemes like “digital arrest” frauds against Indian citizens.
Financial Recovery and Regulatory Action
Police officers have successfully frozen ₹35 lakh across multiple bank accounts utilized by the fraud network to store proceeds from the extortion scheme. The arrested individuals face formal charges under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act covering cheating by impersonation, forgery, criminal conspiracy, and unauthorized access.
Law enforcement authorities have issued warnings to telecom PoS distributors regarding strict adherence to single-authentication e-KYC protocols. Citizens are advised to monitor their registered mobile connections through official Department of Telecommunications (DoT) portals, such as TAFCOP, to detect and report any unauthorized mobile numbers activated using their identity documents.
