CBI arrests Airtel sales manager in Assam for illegal SIM card racket linked to cyber scams

The CBI has arrested Airtel’s territory sales manager and two middlemen in Assam for illegally selling ghost SIM cards used in cyber frauds, including digital arrest scams. The arrests followed raids that uncovered incriminating evidence and KYC misuse

New Delhi: The CBI has arrested a territory sales manager (TSM) of Airtel from Silchar, Assam for alleged unauthorized sale of SIM cards used to commit various cyber crimes including digital arrest scams, officials said Thursday.

The CBI raided five locations in Cachar, Assam on Wednesday and arrested three persons including TSM Debashish Doley and middlemen Mahim Uddin Barbhuiya and Ashim Purkayastha, they said.

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No immediate response was available from Airtel on queries regarding the arrest of Doley. In a major crackdown on digital arrest scams in May this year, the CBI had booked 39 point-of-sales (PoS) operators who sold 1,100 “ghost SIM cards” to cyber criminals operating from Southeast Asian countries targeting Indian citizens.

During investigation, the CBI found that Doley colluded with the middlemen Barbhuiya and Purkayastha to issue unauthorized SIM cards without the knowledge of the persons in whose name SIM cards were officially issued.

According to the modus operandi adopted to sell a “ghost SIM card”, when a customer seeks a SIM, the point-of-sale person gets an e-KYC done and issues a SIM. Scamsters lie to the customers that their e-KYC had failed and they should try again.

The SIM generated for the first time was handed over to the customer while the second one – the “Ghost SIM” – was sold to cybercriminals without the genuine customers knowing that a SIM generated in their name was being used by scammers, the officials said.

These “ghost SIM cards” were then used not only to deceive the victims, but also to create mule bank accounts to receive the money, which were later closed to avoid detection or reveal the money trail, they said.

“These sales were done by violating the laid down guidelines and procedures. These SIM cards were sold illegally in bulk to various middlemen at high cost and later these cards were used in commission of various cyber crimes,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Aimed at curbing the sale and misuse of unauthorized SIM cards being sold through distributors/ PoS agents, the CBI crackdown resulted in seizure of incriminating evidences like mobile phones, electronic devices and copies of KYC documents, etc, she said.

“This action underscores the government of India’s resolute commitment in combating cyber crimes and in bringing its perpetrators to face the law and also special focus in dismantling the infrastructure which facilitates such crimes,” the spokesperson said.