A man in London was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for a SIM card swapping scam involving nearly £200,000

According to the City of London Police report, 25-year-old London man Ajay Shinjin (also known as AJ Marley Cruz) was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the Inner London Crown Court for his involvement in a SIM swap fraud case. He pleaded guilty on September 28 to two charges of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and transferring criminal property. The case involved the theft of cryptocurrency worth nearly £200,000 (approximately $265,000).

In early November 2021, British telecom operator BT discovered unauthorized activity in its systems, where customers' phone numbers were transferred to SIM cards controlled by criminals, who intercepted one-time verification codes sent by banks and cryptocurrency platforms. The police identified several suspects based on device data provided by BT, and Shinjin was linked to four of the devices. He profited over £44,000, which he used for a vacation in Dubai, a luxury apartment in Canary Wharf, and a gold-plated dental grill.

Details of the case revealed that one victim lost approximately £40,000 in cryptocurrency on November 2, 2021, with about £27,000 flowing into Shinjin's personal crypto account; a second victim had approximately £17,000 entirely transferred to his wallet; he also assisted in stealing about £8,000 from a third victim's Coinbase account and around £130,000 from a fourth victim. Shinjin was first arrested at his residence in 2021 and was re-arrested at Heathrow Airport upon returning from Dubai in October 2023.