Hyderabad: AP man arrested for using SIM cards for cyber fraud

Shaik Munwar Basha, who worked as a SIM Promoter, reportedly used mule SIM cards to perpetrate various cyber frauds, particularly targeting OLX users

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cybercrime police along with the Banjara Hills police arrested a man from Andhra Pradesh on charges of misusing SIM cards registered with fake addresses for cybercrime.

The suspect Shaik Munwar Basha of Tadepalligudem in Andhra Pradesh, who worked as a SIM Promoter and Field Sales Executive, was found to be misusing SIM cards registered with fake addresses and also utilising demo SIMs allocated to him.

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Police said Munwar Basha was actively involved in cybercrime activities, in collusion with other cyber criminals. These individuals used mule SIM cards to perpetrate various cyber frauds, particularly targeting OLX users.

“The suspects would search for genuine advertisements related to mobiles, copy the content, and repost them on their social media accounts. When potential buyers responded to the advertisement, Munwar and his associates asked the buyer and the actual seller to a common location. After receiving the payment online, they would switch off their mobile phone and disappear, cheating the buyers,” cybercrime officials said.

Munawar Basha is involved in 14 cyber fraud cases, using three different mobile numbers, across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.