A London man has been jailed for two and a half years for his role in a SIM-swap fraud that stole almost £200,000 worth of cryptocurrency, City of London Police announced Thursday.
Ajay Shinjin, 25, of Marsh Wall, Canary Wharf, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and transferring criminal property. He received more than £44,000 of the stolen funds, which he spent on luxury holidays in Dubai, a high-end apartment in Canary Wharf, and gold-plated teeth grills.
How the Fraud Operated
In a SIM-swap attack, criminals transfer a victim's phone number to a SIM card they control, allowing them to intercept one-time passcodes that banks and crypto platforms send by text message. This enables unauthorized access to accounts and funds.
In early November 2021, telecommunications company BT identified unauthorized activity on its systems in which customer phone numbers had been transferred to criminals' SIM cards. BT traced the devices used to receive the numbers, and its investigation led police to several suspects, including Shinjin, who was linked to four of the devices.
Victims and Losses
Shinjin helped steal from at least four victims:
- One victim lost approximately £40,000 in crypto on November 2, 2021, of which Shinjin received about £27,000 into his personal crypto account
- A second victim lost roughly £17,000, which ended up in Shinjin's wallet
- A third victim had about £8,000 stolen from a Coinbase account
- A fourth victim lost approximately £130,000
Shinjin was first arrested at his flat in 2021 and re-arrested at Heathrow Airport in October 2023 upon his return from Dubai after further evidence emerged. He provided no comment during police interviews.
Rising Threat
Unauthorized SIM-swap cases recorded to the UK's National Fraud Database rose 402% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period the previous year, according to fraud prevention service Cifas, which reported the figures in August. The increase reflects SIM swaps being increasingly used to intercept security codes and bypass account protections.
Security experts recommend using authentication apps for two-factor authentication rather than text messages, setting a separate PIN or passcode with mobile carriers where possible, and enabling account takeover protection offered by some carriers to enforce strict verification rules for account changes.
