Employees of the Almaty department of the Agency for Financial Monitoring (AFM) have detained three foreigners, from whom six SIM-box devices were discovered and seized during a search of a rented flat.
For reference: A SIM-box is a device used to store and operate a large number of SIM cards. It can handle up to 60 calls simultaneously, as well as send up to 600 messages per hour.
According to the department's press office, AFM employees also seized over 5,000 SIM cards from various mobile operators.
“A pre-trial investigation has been registered against these individuals under Article 213, Part 2 of the Criminal Code, ‘unlawful alteration of the identification code of a mobile subscriber device, subscriber identification device, as well as the creation, use, and distribution of software for altering the identification code of a subscriber device’”, the statement reads.
The suspects have been placed in custody for 2 months. Their involvement in internet fraud is being investigated.
For context, in February, cyber police officers from the East Kazakhstan Regional Police Department uncovered a network of fraudsters in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Three suspects are under investigation. At their place of residence, law enforcement officers discovered and seized 22 SIM-box devices, which contained 489 SIM cards from mobile operators.