Ukrainian criminals duplicated SIM-cards in order to steal funds

[Tomcat]

Cyber police officers of Ukraine exposed a criminal group whose members organized a criminal scheme to duplicate SIM-cards in order to steal money. The criminal group has been operating since August 2018, it consisted of three residents of Krivoy Rog.

The attackers deactivated mobile SIM cards, which were the victims' financial numbers. The criminals reissued the SIM card from the mobile operator and thus got access to SMS messages, social media pages and the victim's messengers, changed the password for online banking and disposed of funds - they embezzled money and issued loans. According to preliminary data, the criminals managed to earn almost 1.5 million hryvnia (about 4 million rubles).

As the investigation established, the cybercriminals obtained information about the personal data of clients, as well as about persons who constantly kept a significant amount of funds in their accounts, through corrupt connections in banking institutions.

During searches at the place of residence of the defendants, computer equipment, mobile phones, more than a thousand SIM cards, card holders, flash drives, a hard disk, bank cards, draft records and passports of Ukrainian citizens with signs of forgery, issued in the names of other persons, were seized ...

On this fact, criminal proceedings have been initiated under Part 3 of Article 28 (commission of a crime by an organized group), Article 185 (theft), Article 361 (unauthorized interference with the operation of computers, automated systems, computer networks or telecommunication networks), and Art. 209 (legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. All members of the group were informed of the suspicion, and the materials of the case were sent to the court.