In one of the most alarming cybercrime investigations in recent years, the IFSO Unit, Special Cell, Delhi Police has dismantled a highly sophisticated international cyber fraud syndicate that weaponized fear, terrorism narratives, and cutting-edge telecom manipulation to extort innocent citizens across India.
Investigation revealed a significant international conspiracy angle. It was established that the SIMBOX devices were supplied, installed, and technically configured exclusively by Taiwanese nationals. Communication between Indian handlers and foreign conspirators was conducted via Telegram, using encrypted chats.
Interrogation of the accused also brought to light an international command-and-control structure behind the "Digital Arrest" scam, revealing that the operation running on Indian soil was merely the last link in a multi-country syndicate.The accused disclosed that he was in continuous contact with an individual who had earlier operated from Delhi and had masterminded 02 major illegal SIMBOX installations in Narela and Nihal Vihar, both of which were busted earlier in the year 2025. This Delhi-based operator is now believed to be part of a larger offshore syndicate, having shifted operational control outside India to evade law enforcement.
Beginning September 2025, victims nationwide were subjected to phone calls from fraudsters impersonating officers of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), particularly from Uttar Pradesh. Citizens were falsely accused of links with terror attacks including Pahalgam and Delhi Blasts, warned of immediate arrest, and placed under so-called "digital arrest", a psychological trap designed to force instant monetary transfers in the name of national security.
The task of unravelling this syndicate was taken up by IFSO Unit. Initial investigations revealed that the gang was employing highly sophisticated telecom manipulation techniques to evade detection. The Investigation found that the calls were deliberately routed over low-frequency (2G) networks to avoid real-time location tracking. The criminals were operating SIMBOX systems, enabling them to mask international calls as domestic Indian numbers.
These calls were originating from foreign countries, particularly Cambodia, and were routed into India through clandestine SIMBOX installations.The SIMBOX devices were being manipulated by overwriting and rotating IMEI numbers, making device identification extremely difficult. Advanced software was used to merge multiple SIMBOXes into a single virtual entity, dynamically rotating IMEIs and SIM numbers.
As a result, when call data records were analyzed, the same number appeared to originate from multiple cities within a single day, deliberately misleading investigators.Despite these formidable obstacles, through persistent technical analysis and field intelligence, the IFSO Unit, Special Cell successfully narrowed down the first physical location of the SIMBOX operations to Goyla Dairy, Delhi. A one-month-long covert surveillance operation confirmed the presence of 04 active locations with SIMBOX installations. A swift and decisive raid followed.
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