SIM-Swap Crypto Thief Jailed in London After Funding Gold Grills and Dubai Holidays

Ajay Shinjin, 25, of Canary Wharf, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and transferring criminal property. According to City of London Police, he used stolen funds for luxury holidays in Dubai and gold-plated dental grills. The thefts totalled nearly $260,000 in cryptocurrency.

The fraud took place in November 2021. Criminals took control of victims' phone numbers by transferring them to SIM cards the fraudsters controlled. They then intercepted one-time security codes sent by text message, which let them bypass account protections and reach bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets. Telecommunications company BT spotted unauthorised activity on its systems and found customer numbers had been moved to criminal-controlled SIM cards. Investigators traced the activity to several devices able to use eSIMs, and BT's data helped police identify suspects, including Shinjin, who was linked to four devices.

Police identified four victims whose accounts were compromised in the first week of November 2021. Losses ranged from about £8,000 to about £130,000. Shinjin was arrested in 2021 and again at Heathrow Airport in October 2023 after returning from Dubai, following the discovery of additional evidence. He declined to answer questions in police interviews.