Europe’s Largest SIM-Card Cybercrime Bust: The Moment Police Found 40,000 Cards in a Single Raid
When Latvian State Police stormed a quiet apartment building hallway, they weren’t expecting what they were about to uncover. What began as a coordinated sweep of a suspected cyber-fraud hub turned into one of the largest SIM-card seizures in European cybercrime history—a discovery that stunned investigators and exposed a criminal network operating across multiple countries.
The footage opens with heavily equipped officers moving silently down a narrow corridor. Their helmets, tactical vests, and communication gear signal the seriousness of the operation. Behind the flashing red banner reading “40,000 SIM cards linked to cyber fraud across Europe,” officers prepare to breach a unit believed to be the nerve center of a major digital scam operation.
Inside that apartment, they would find exactly what they feared—and more.
When the door swung open, investigators stepped into a room filled wall-to-wall with small boxes, envelopes, binders, and crates—all stuffed with SIM cards from different European carriers. Some were prepaid and ready for activation. Others had already been used in crimes involving identity theft, phishing, illegal banking operations, and social-engineering scams.
Authorities say the cards weren’t just for phone calls—they were tools used to:
- Create thousands of fake identities
- Bypass two-factor authentication
- Set up burner accounts
- Launder money digitally
- Operate fraudulent call centers
- Evade law-enforcement tracking
These cards effectively served as the heartbeat of a vast scam network that targeted victims in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the UK, the Baltics, and beyond.
What shocked officers most was the level of organization. The SIMs were meticulously cataloged, sorted by carrier, region, activation status, and even the type of fraud they were used for. Nearby computers ran scripts and automation tools designed to activate hundreds of numbers simultaneously—feeding a nonstop stream of criminal activity.
Police say the group behind this operation had been re-routing money, breaking into bank accounts, and running impersonation scams that stole from everyday citizens, small businesses, and even major corporations.
Some of the SIMs were linked to:
- Bank-account takeover attempts
- Fake parcel-delivery scam calls
- Cryptocurrency theft
- Romance scams
- Social-media hijacking operations
Experts believe the fraud network may have caused millions of euros in losses.
The raid was part of a wider Europol-supported crackdown involving multiple agencies working across borders. Signals intelligence, phone-record tracing, and digital-forensics teams helped pinpoint the exact location where these SIM cards were being stored.
The operation was a massive win for cybercrime investigators.
For years, criminals relied on disposable SIM cards to hide behind untraceable phone numbers. But this seizure struck at the heart of that anonymity—taking away tens of thousands of identities they could’ve used to scam more victims.
As investigators packed up the SIM cards, officers could be heard saying the discovery was “bigger than expected.” And the footage makes one thing clear: this wasn’t just a raid—it was a direct hit on one of Europe’s most extensive cyber-fraud infrastructures.