Europol dismantled a massive SIM-box operation that rented phone numbers from 80+ countries to enable phishing, smishing, and various scams across Europe. Law enforcement seized 1,200 SIM-box devices containing 40,000 active SIM cards that helped create over 49 million fake online accounts, because apparently running a telecommunications fraud empire is easier than getting a legitimate business license. The operation netted seven arrests and shut down infrastructure responsible for €4.5 million in Austrian losses alone, plus the obligatory crypto freeze ($333,000 USD). The Latvian State Police added that the operators ran the platform under the cover of a legal business, offering numbers that could be used to register anonymously on more than 160 online services.
