Investigators said the setups were deliberately located near IT centers to avoid suspicion and enable uninterrupted operations.

Gurgaon: Police investigating a SIM box cyber fraud racket operating from rented houses in the city have identified an India-based handler linked to operators in Cambodia and the Philippines, pointing to a cross-border network.The development follows a crackdown over the past few weeks, during which police destroyed several SIM box setups operating from rented accommodation in Chakkarpur and U-Block. Five people have been arrested so far from locations in Gurgaon, Haryana; Jalgaon, Maharashtra; Ahmedabad, Gujarat; And Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh.During the raid, police recovered 15 SIM boxes, seven Wi-Fi Tapo cameras, seven routers, seven inverters, 42 batteries, 29 Tapo Wi-Fi switches, 28 Ethernet cables and 504 SIM cards.Investigators said the setups were deliberately located near IT centers to avoid suspicion and enable uninterrupted operations. In many cases, landlords had limited involvement beyond renting out the premises and were later made part of the investigation as complainants.However, even as the cyber police continue to crack down on the SIM box racket, a key gap is emerging in the investigation – while local operators are being arrested, the handlers controlling these networks from abroad are hiding behind coded identities.According to a senior official, foreign handlers linked to countries such as Cambodia and the Philippines operate using aliases, making it difficult for investigators to establish their real identities. “They do not disclose who they are. They work through code names, which becomes a major hindrance in pursuing the investigation.”The investigation has also revealed that the people arrested in such cases are well aware of the fraud. Police said that the accused were fully aware of their role. “They know what kind of scams these systems are used for, but they continue because of the money involved,” the official said.Recruitment in these cyber networks is often done through telegrams and personal contacts. “They look for targets who are looking for easy money or who do not have a job,” police said.The accused, mostly young men, were paid around Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per month to operate the devices, which routed international calls through local SIM cards to make them appear as domestic numbers – a key element in such frauds.While the Gurgaon Police has been able to dismantle many such setups, the financial scale of the fraud involving SIM box operations is still being assessed as part of the ongoing investigation.Officials said the findings highlight a layered network in which local operators form the operational backbone, even as the masterminds remain out of immediate reach.“We are thoroughly investigating the case to nab the Indian handler,” an official said.