Gurugram police dismantle Philippines‑linked cyber fraud network, arrest Uttar Pradesh man

The Gurugram police have cracked a Philippines‑linked cyber‑fraud racket involving the illegal use of SIM boxes for telecom fraud and arrested a key operator, officials said on Monday. The accused, identified as 30‑year‑old Rahul Kumar , a resident of Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh , was taken into custody on March 18 following coordinated raids across Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, police said.

Police said the gang used illegal SIM boxes routed through Nepal and Bihar to mask the origin of international calls, enabling cybercriminal activity. Such devices can be exploited to reroute calls through local networks, hiding the true location of the caller and facilitating various frauds.

During searches at two rented accommodations in Gurugram’s DLF Phase 3 , officers seized five SIM boxes with 32 SIM‑port antennas each , more than 500 SIM cards from major operators, eight routers, 18 batteries, three UPS inverters and a mobile phone, officials said.

The case came to light after two homeowners in Gurugram lodged complaints alleging that their tenants were running unauthorised SIM box operations from their residences, which could be used for criminal purposes. Separate FIRs were registered on March 17, with raids following shortly after.

ACP Cyber Priyanshu Dewan said that Kumar, who works as a driver in Noida, admitted to maintaining regular contact with a person in the Philippines through an intermediary. He allegedly received the SIM boxes, routers and other equipment there and coordinated their setup via video calls with his overseas contact before distributing them in Gurugram and other areas, Kumar told investigators.

According to police, Kumar was initially remanded in police custody for five days and later produced before a court, which sent him to judicial custody on March 23.

Investigators said the racket may be part of a wider international network of cybercriminals using SIM box infrastructure to conceal call origins and support fraudulent operations. Authorities continue to probe whether these devices were being used in specific scams such as digital arrest frauds or investment fraud schemes , which often rely on hidden telecom gateways to obfuscate criminal communication channels.

Further investigations are underway to identify other suspects and dismantle the broader crime syndicate linked to this international cyber‑fraud operation, police added.