Europol Friday the dismantling of GoGetSMS, a sophisticated cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS) platform that operated a SIM farm and allowed its clients to commit a wide range of crimes, from phishing to investment fraud.
The coordinated law enforcement effort, codenamed Operation SIMCARTEL, included 26 investigations, leading to the arrest of seven suspects and the seizure of 1,200 SIM boxescontaining 40,000 active SIM cards. Five of those arrested are Latvian nationals.
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Europol dismantled a SIM Farm network together with authorities from various countries
The countries that participated in the operation included authorities from Austria, Estonia, Finland and Latvia, in cooperation with Europol and Eurojust.
“The criminal network and its infrastructure were technically highly sophisticated and allowed perpetrators around the world to use this SIM-box service to commit a wide range of telecommunications crimes, as well as other crimes,” the agency said.
The infrastructure offered phone numbers registered to individuals from more than 80 countries for use in criminal activities, including the creation of fake accounts on social networks and communication platforms, with the main goal of hiding their original identity and location. In total, the service enabled the creation of more than 49 million online accounts.
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These accounts were then used to carry out phishing and smishing attacks and commit financial fraud, tricking victims into investing their money in fake investment schemes. Another tactic involved contacting victims on WhatsApp. The perpetrators would pretend to be the victims’ child, claiming to have a new number and asking them to transfer money for an emergency.
Some of the other offences included extortion, migrant smuggling and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
According to screenshots captured on the Internet Archive, GoGetSMS was promoted as a way to get “fast and secure temporary phone numbers,” with more than 10 million numbers available (and receiving verification codes from over 160 online services).
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On its website, GoGetSMS also offered the ability to monetize existing SIM cards, turning them into “powerful passive income generating assets” using its “specialized software.” Cardholders could earn revenue for every SMS sent to them.
Latvian Police said the platform was designed for anonymous communication and payments, affecting 3,200 people in various countries.
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