Anhui Police Seize 45 kg of SIM Cards in Telecom Fraud Bust

Police in Anhui province announced the breakup of a large-scale telecom fraud operation. Investigators seized more than 400,000 SIM cards, weighing about 45 kg, which had been used to place fraudulent calls and send phishing messages. The cache included ordinary subscriber SIMs, Internet‑of‑Things (IoT) cards and virtual‑operator numbers, suggesting that the fraud network exploited weaknesses in the distribution practices of China’s three state‑owned carriers – China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom – as well as poorly regulated virtual‐operator prefixes.

Each card carries a unique ICCID and IMSI that can be cross‑checked against carrier databases, meaning the source of the cards could be identified quickly. Authorities say the seized cards expose systemic gaps in the registration and oversight of mobile‑phone subscriptions, prompting calls for tighter controls to prevent similar criminal enterprises.