SIM cards bought using forged IDs major security threat: Officials

Security forces are facing a growing challenge in the form of mobile SIM cards procured via fake Indian identity documents, which are being extensively used by cross-border criminals, especially on India's international frontier with Bangladesh.

The officials have flagged West Bengal's Murshidabad district as an area of high incidence of this illegal trafficking, involving substantial threats to national security.

Criminals are obtaining pre-activated SIM cards through two channels, according to police sources:

* Forgery of Non-Existent Identities: Criminals create identity documents for non-existent persons to acquire SIM cards, which makes it hard for the authorities to track their activities.

* Misuse of Existing Identities: In an even more serious trend, SIM cards are registered under the names of existing persons who are entirely unaware that their credentials are being utilized for criminal activities.
Police sources indicate that in 99% of these cases, the victims are unaware that a SIM card has been obtained in their name and is being used illegally.

Link to illegal immigration

Reports show that such fake SIMs are being bought by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants as soon as they enter India. Most of them stay hidden in border villages until they get forged Indian identity papers, and thus such SIM cards become an important commodity for their survival and criminal ventures.

Security forces have also found that illicit mobile service dealers are supporting this fraud. These dealers:

* Keep duplicate photocopies of original customers' identity documents while issuing SIMs.

* Utilize those documents to activate more SIM cards in the name of unsuspecting people.

* Sell these illegally activated SIMs at high prices to criminals and illegal immigrants.

In most instances, these rogue dealers exploit biometric authentication by capturing several fingerprint impressions from legitimate customers in the name of verification. These additional biometric prints are then abused to activate more SIM cards in the same name.

With counterfeit SIMs being employed for other criminal purposes, such as fraud, terrorism, and human trafficking, security organizations are under scrutiny to make regulations stricter and clamp down on rogue mobile dealers. The issue is presently under probe, and law enforcers are anticipating bringing in tighter verification processes to avoid the misuse of mobile SIMs in the future.