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 weaponised fear, terrorism narratives, and cutting-edge telecom manipulation to extort innocent citizens across India.
Beginning in 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.
Used 2G networks to prevent location tracking
The IFSO Unit investigated the gang and found they were using very advanced telecom techniques to hide their operations. The calls were deliberately routed over 2G networks to avoid location tracking. They used SIMBOX systems, which made international calls look like local Indian numbers. Most calls came from Cambodia, sent into India through secret SIMBOX setups. The gang manipulated the devices by overwriting and rotating IMEI numbers, making it very hard to trace them. They also used software to combine multiple SIMBOXes into a single virtual system, so the same number could appear to be calling from multiple cities in a day, confusing investigators.
After persistent work, the IFSO Unit traced the first SIMBOX location to Goyla Dairy, Delhi. A month of secret surveillance showed four active SIMBOX sites, which were then raided. The investigation showed that the SIMBOX devices were supplied and set up by Taiwanese nationals, and communications between Indian operators and foreign criminals happened over Telegram using encrypted chats.
International conspiracy?
On December 21, I-Tsung Chen, the Taiwanese man running the SIMBOX network from abroad, was arrested at Delhi International Airport. During interrogation, Chen admitted he was the main operator, responsible for smuggling SIMBOX devices into India, setting them up, and keeping them hidden to run large-scale fraud. Chen said he worked under a Taiwan-based crime network led by Shang-Min Wu.
Further investigation revealed the accused had been recruited and trained in Cambodia by a Pakistani national, who instructed them to set up a SIMBOX hub in Mohali, Punjab. The gang used Pakistani-origin IMEI numbers of Faywa Make to hide device identities and avoid tracking.
With critical analytical support from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, investigators cross-mapped these IMEIs and mobile numbers against national cybercrime databases. The results were staggering thousands of cybercrime complaints and registered cases from across the length and breadth of India were found to be linked to this very network.
This case exposes a deeply entrenched international cybercrime syndicate, leveraging advanced telecom fraud, psychological manipulation, and cross-border coordination to exploit Indian citizens under the guise of national security threats.
(With inputs from ANI)
