A 25-year-old man in the UK has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for his role in a SIM-swap fraud case linked to the theft of nearly £200,000, or about $265,000, in cryptocurrency, according to the City of London Police. The defendant, Ajay Shinjin, received more than £44,000 from the proceeds and had already admitted to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and transferring criminal property. Police said the case began after BT discovered in November 2021 that customer phone numbers had been moved without authorization to SIM cards controlled by criminals. That access allowed the group to intercept one-time passcodes sent by banks and crypto platforms via text message. BT traced devices receiving the transferred numbers, helping investigators identify several suspects, with four devices linked to Shinjin. Separately, anti-fraud body Cifas said unauthorized SIM-swap cases recorded in the UK’s National Fraud Database rose 402% year over year in the first half of 2026, adding that the tactic is increasingly being used to capture security codes and bypass account protections.
A 25-year-old UK man, Ajay Shinjin, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for taking part in a SIM-swap fraud scheme, according to the City of London Police. The case involved the theft of nearly £200,000, or about $265,000, in cryptocurrency.
Shinjin received more than £44,000 from the stolen funds. He had previously admitted to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and transferring criminal property.
Police said the case dates back to November 2021, when British telecom operator BT found that customer phone numbers had been transferred without authorization to SIM cards controlled by criminals. The group then used those numbers to intercept one-time passcodes sent by banks and crypto platforms through text messages.
After tracing the devices that received the transferred numbers, BT helped police identify multiple suspects. Investigators said four of those devices were linked to Shinjin.
Data from anti-fraud organization Cifas showed that unauthorized SIM-swap cases recorded in the UK National Fraud Database rose 402% year over year in the first half of 2026. Cifas said the method is being used more often to intercept security codes and bypass account protection measures.
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