An IT expert explained the importance of "gray" SIM cards for organized crime

In the digital world, the SIM card has de facto become an identity card for accessing a variety of services, which makes it such a valuable asset for criminals, Igor Bederov, director of the Internet Search company, explained to Izvestia.

To register: a unified database of digital traces of cybercriminals has been created in Russia

The collected data will help identify criminals on a systematic basis.

"Crime has been declining in numbers for a long time, but it still depends on the basic elements of the infrastructure: SIM cards, servers, accounts. Fighting against these footholds is the most effective tactic," Bederov said.

He considers the introduction of criminal liability under Article 274.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Organization of activities for the transfer of subscriber numbers in violation of the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation") to be a natural and overdue response to the large-scale epidemic of telecom fraud.

The first results of the law's application, announced by State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, are shocking: cases of registration of over 1 million subscriber numbers for 56 people have been identified; equipment used to commit up to 20 million fraudulent attacks per day has been seized. Moreover, the news about the blocking of 160,000 numbers by the Russian Interior Ministry, whose owners leased accounts to intruders acting in the interests of Ukrainian call centers, confirms that we are talking about combating deep infrastructure for committing serious crimes, from fraud to recruitment.

Read more about how the criminal world acquires SIM cards and how the police intend to deprive fraudsters of this tool in the Izvestia article:

Start a creep with this: who helps scammers get anonymous numbers

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