Massive SIM-farm bust in the UK
VodafoneThree, the National Crime Agency (NCA), and City of London Police have announced a major SIM farm bust leading to eight arrests.
The raid also led to the seizure of cash and equipment, and the recovery of more than one million compromised card details ‘phished’ from the public by criminals, the NCA said.
A SIM farm is a collection of cellular SIM cards, sometimes scaling to hundreds or thousands, used by fraudsters to route massive volumes of automated calls and text messages to members of the public, aiming to deceive victims into giving up sensitive personal information – known commonly as ‘phishing’.
This information can be used to commit fraudulent activities or be packaged into detailed ‘profiles’ of potential victims and sold to other criminals.
Around three million victims suffered financial loss through fraud, (the most commonly experienced crime in England and Wales) with more than four million incidents in the year ending March 2025. The economic and social cost of fraud in 2024 was estimated at £14.4 billion by the Home Office.
Using a new approach developed with law enforcement, having identified suspected SIM farm activity, VodafoneThree shared intelligence with the NCA and City of London Police’s Fraud Targeting Cell.
The Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), a banking industry-funded unit, used the intel to investigate individuals suspected of using SIM farm systems to target the public.
This led to the disruption of organised criminal activity and the recovery of what law enforcement has described as potentially the largest haul of compromised payment details ever recovered.
Crucially, SIM farms can hide in plain sight. Recent UK investigations have uncovered the technology operating from ordinary homes and properties in local communities.
As criminals increasingly exploit digital infrastructure, organised fraud is becoming more sophisticated and harder to detect. The ability to operate at greater scale and speed makes disrupting the infrastructure behind fraud more important than ever.
“SIM farms are a key enabler of large-scale fraud, allowing criminals to create huge numbers of fake online accounts and target victims in huge quantities with minimal effort,” said Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of Fraud in the National Economic Crime Centre at the National Crime Agency.
“The introduction of new offences covering the possession and supply of SIM farms strengthens our ability to protect the public from fraud. The NCA will continue to work with partners across policing and industry to disrupt the criminals behind this offending.”
