Authorities Dismantle Cybercrime-as-a-Service Platform, Seize 40,000 Active SIM Cards

An international law enforcement operation has dismantled a large-scale cybercrime-as-a-service network responsible for fueling thousands of online fraud cases across Europe.

The operation, known as SIMCARTEL, took place on 10 October 2025 in Latvia and resulted in five arrests, the seizure of key infrastructure, and the disruption of a sophisticated online criminal marketplace.

During coordinated raids, authorities executed 26 searches across multiple sites, arresting five Latvian nationals suspected of operating the illegal platform.

Investigators seized five servers, 1,200 SIM-box devices, and more than 40,000 active SIM cards used to power the fraudulent service. Two linked websites gogetsms[.]com and apisim[.]com were taken over by law enforcement and replaced with “splash pages” announcing their seizure.

The seized operation had enabled more than 49 million fake online accounts and was tied to over 3,200 known cyber fraud cases across Austria and Latvia alone.

Financial losses from these crimes exceeded EUR 4.5 million in Austria and an additional EUR 420,000 in Latvia. Authorities also froze EUR 431,000 in bank assets, USD 333,000 in cryptocurrency, and confiscated four luxury vehicles belonging to suspects.

Cybercrime-as-a-Service Platform Dismantled

The dismantled service sold access to phone numbers registered in more than 80 countries, allowing clients to mask their identities while committing crimes ranging from phishing and smishing to large-scale fraud, extortion, and child exploitation.

The platform allowed criminals to create fake social media, banking, and e-commerce accounts that appeared legitimate but were used to defraud unsuspecting victims.

The network’s offerings supported several widespread scams, including fraudulent second-hand marketplace listings, “daughter–son” WhatsApp scams, investment fraud schemes, fake bank websites, and impersonations of police officers targeting Russian-speaking victims. Each of these crimes relied on the anonymity provided by the rented SIM-based numbers.

The operation was coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, working in close collaboration with law enforcement agencies from Austria, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland.

Technical support from the Shadowserver Foundation helped dismantle the network’s infrastructure and secure digital evidence. Europol analysts conducted OSINT mapping of the platform’s online footprint and facilitated international data exchange to track financial and digital assets.

The joint action marks a major success in Europe’s fight against crime-as-a-service networks, striking at the infrastructure that enabled cybercriminals to hide behind false identities and target victims worldwide.

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