Police have raided a large SIM farm concealed inside a terraced house as part of an operation that uncovered what is believed to be the biggest haul of stolen credit card details ever recovered in the UK.
Footage shows officers from the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit, a police unit funded by the banking industry, forcing their way into a home in the East Midlands during an early-morning raid.
Inside the otherwise ordinary property, officers discovered bin bags packed with hundreds of brand-new SIM cards from several mobile providers. Many had not yet been removed from their packaging. Cardboard boxes containing SIM terminals and wiring were also found throughout the house.
The discovery confirmed investigators’ suspicions that the property was being used to operate a SIM farm.
SIM farms are devices that can hold thousands of SIM cards, enabling criminals to run large numbers of mobile connections at the same time. They can be used to trick victims into handing over sensitive personal information in scams commonly known as phishing.
The SIM cards are frequently stolen from display stands in supermarkets and post offices.
Police believed the property was one of several SIM farms operating across the country. Intelligence provided by VodafoneThree helped the National Crime Agency (NCA) locate the suspected sites, leading to eight arrests and the seizure of cash and equipment.
The operation has so far recovered more than one million compromised card details, in what the NCA believes could be the largest haul of its kind ever recorded in the UK.
Footage shows officers from the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit, a banking industry-funded police unit, breaking through the door of an East Midlands property during an early-morning raid on a suspected SIM farm
A SIM farm seized from the East Midlands property. The devices can house thousands of SIM cards, allowing criminals to operate numerous mobile connections simultaneously and target victims at scale
Andrew Harding is Deputy Head of Fraud Threat Leadership at the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), which is part of the NCA.
He said the criminal economy linked to SIM farms reaches well beyond the people who run the devices.
Mr Harding described sophisticated organised networks in which separate groups focus on collecting personal information, managing cryptocurrency and contacting potential victims.
‘There’s always a buyer for something. And data is what people want,’ he said.
SIM farms were made illegal last month, marking a significant shift in the UK’s efforts to combat fraud.
The change gives law enforcement agencies further powers to target the infrastructure supporting a broad range of fraud and cybercrime offences. It also reflects an increasing focus on disrupting criminal activity before it can cause harm.
The operation was made possible through collaboration between VodafoneThree and the NCA.
After identifying patterns linked to suspected SIM farm activity, VodafoneThree shared its intelligence with the NCA’s Fraud Targeting Cell.
A rubbish bag filled with unused SIM cards. Such cards are often stolen from supermarkets and post offices before being used in SIM farms
Investigators developed the information before passing actionable intelligence to regional police teams. The intelligence enabled officers to identify suspected criminal premises and carry out enforcement action.
Rachel Andrews, Head of Corporate Security at VodafoneThree, said: ‘Fraud cannot be tackled through protective measures alone. We need to go further by using our intelligence and capabilities to identify and disrupt the infrastructure that enables organised criminals to operate at scale.
‘This collaboration with the NCA demonstrates what can be achieved when industry and law enforcement combine their strengths. By disrupting criminal activity closer to its source, we can prevent harm before it reaches customers and the wider public.’
Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of Fraud at the NCA’s National Economic Crime Centre, said: ‘These arrests demonstrate the value of close cooperation between law enforcement and industry. Intelligence shared by VodafoneThree allowed us to disrupt suspected criminal activity and recover more than one million compromised card details.
‘SIM farms are a major enabler of large-scale fraud. They allow criminals to create vast numbers of fake online accounts and target huge numbers of victims with relatively little effort.
‘The introduction of new offences covering the possession and supply of SIM farms strengthens our ability to protect the public from fraud. The NCA will continue working with policing and industry partners to disrupt the criminals responsible for this offending.’
