SIM cards with fake addresses are adding to the woes of cyber cops as these are being used by Internet fraudsters.
“Any masked identity can turn into a serious threat,” warns a cyber crime official.
Cyber cops attached to the city police and as well as in the CB-CID have repeatedly asked service providers not to issue SIM cards without verification, but this does not seem to have had much impact because of the cut-throat competition in the market, according to one official.
Before mobile Internet invaded the market, it was reasonably easy for cyber police to trace computers from where mail and objective content using IP address has been sent.
Now this has become a major headache for police with fraudsters use mobile phone Internet supported with SIM cards with fake addresses, to send out fraudulent mails.
“When the identity is masked, we have very limited options for tracing the origin of the communication, be it SMS, voice call or internet messages,” said a cyber security official. The fraudsters can now get a SIM card with fake address, buy an Internet compatible mobile phone and commit cyber crimes on the move without being traced.
According to a cyber security expert, the service providers are not very keen to store login details of customers.
“Though we have asked service providers to conduct address verification checks regularly, we don’t think they are doing it seriously,” said a police official.