It is well known that SIMs subscribed on forged documents and in third party’s names are involved in majority of cybercrimes and anti-national activities. Such is the expertise level of fraudsters that they have created fake proof of identity / address documents, which can never be detected by human beings by analysing a single case in isolation. Hence, Department of Telecom (DoT) had taken up the challenge for preventing cybercrimes by conceptualizing and implementing an innovative and indigenous AI and Facial Recognition powered solution (ASTR) – the NextGen platform for detecting and weeding out fake/forged SIMs.

The vision of the ASTR project is to analyze the whole subscriber base of all telecom Service Providers (TSPs) combine and cleanse the mobile subscriber database by identifying non-bonafide mobile numbers. Presently, the system uses subscriber images and subscriber database provided by the Telecom Subscriber Providers (TSP) to DoT, compares the same and the output is generated in groups of similar images with different names.

 

Gujarat LSA carried out the analysis for its subscriber database and has identified total 486 groups where similar images are found with different names. With threshold of 20 or more subscribers in a group, there were total 29552 subscriber identified found in these 486 groups. This indicated clear connivance of point of sale (PoS) i.e. SIM sellers, specially those PoS whose contribution of fake SIMs in a group is abnormally high, in issuing suspected fake SIMs.

Immediately, a meeting was arranged with the IGP Shri Subhash Trivedi and SP Subodh Odedara Gujarat State Cyber Crime Cell, CID Crime, Gandhinagar on 24.03.2023, attended by DDG Shri Ajatshtru Somani and Director Shri Sumit Mishra from DoT side. All the relevant details were handed over by DoT Gujarat to the Gujarat State Cyber Crime Cell, CID Crime in the meeting.

Pursuant to which it was decided that the State Cyber ​​Crime Cell and Gujarat ATS will carry out state-wide joint operation against such PoS involved in selling fake SIM cards, through State Cyber ​​Crime Police Station, Cyber ​​Crime Cell and SOG. DoT Gujarat extended full backend support like providing copy of Customer Application Form (CAF) and associated documents used at the time of obtaining such fake SIM, details of the PoS involved etc. on immediate basis from the respective TSPs.

This is the first of its kind state-wide crackdown carried out by DoT, State Cyber Crime and ATS against the PoS involved in selling of fake SIMs and as on date 15 FIRs against 30 such PoS, who had sold more than 7000 such fake SIM cards, have been registered across Gujarat state in last one week:-

District	No. of FIRs	No. of POS
Surat	4	14
Ahmedabad	3	12
Navsari	4	4
Bhavnagar	3	3
Rajkot	1	1
Total	15	30

The joint operation is likely to continue for at least two more weeks and more FIRs are likely against such PoS involved in selling of fake SIM cards.

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