From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android


As the thing happened in Spain, the article is in Spanish. I translate
it for you, using DeepL.


<https://www.informacion.es/sucesos/sucesos-en-alicante/2025/11/28/desmantelan-alicante-granja-moviles-enviaba-124228701.html>

*Mobile phone farm sending 2.5 million SMS messages a day for cyber
scams dismantled in Alicante*

P. Cerrada


The Civil Guard in Alicante has dismantled Spain's first technological infrastructure capable of sending 2.5 million SMS messages a day and
making thousands of fraudulent calls in order to scam citizens and empty
their bank accounts through deception. The dismantled mobile phone farm,
which could operate simultaneously with almost 900 modems and SIM cards,
was discovered by the Civil Guard of Alicante in Barcelona following complaints filed in Aspe and Novelda by Ukrainian citizens who had been defrauded of €170,000.

A 41-year-old Ukrainian computer scientist who had worked for
multinational companies was arrested on November 18 after it was
discovered that he was using a café in Barcelona as a cover for an
industrial computer system valued at €400,000, an infrastructure that he made available to any criminal group specializing in cyber fraud.

The details of Operation Mosenik, the third of its kind to be carried
out worldwide and led by a court in Novelda, were presented on Friday by
the acting head of the Civil Guard Command in Alicante, Lieutenant
Colonel Francisco Poyato; Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Darder, head of the Judicial Police and Information; Lieutenant José Carlos Vega, head of
the Judicial Police's Property Crime Team; and Corporal Javier Herrero,
head of the Alicante Civil Guard's @ Team.

Civil Guard officials have indicated that the investigation remains open
in order to identify the cybercrime networks that hired the services of
the arrested individual, and they estimate that the amount of money
defrauded could amount to several million euros.

The suspect was released on bail with precautionary measures after
appearing in court, including a ban on leaving the country, and was
arrested this Friday when he attempted to leave Spain on a flight to
another country. The suspect was arrested early in the morning at El
Prat airport and was awaiting trial for violating the precautionary
measure imposed on him after being arrested for crimes of fraud,
usurpation of civil status, document forgery, computer damage, money laundering, and membership in a criminal group.


*False calls from the police*

There are many different types of cyber scams involving calls and text messages, although they all aim to steal money from their victims. In
the case investigated by the Civil Guard in Alicante, Russian and
Ukrainian citizens were receiving calls from people posing as members of
the National Police and the Bank of Spain, pressuring them to provide
their bank details and make large transfers. Some of these calls were
made in Russian or Ukrainian to target residents of these nationalities
in Spain.

According to Civil Guard officials, following the complaints in Novelda
and Aspe, an investigation was launched that led to a suspected call
center in Barcelona, which turned out to be a café and was the cover for
the computer technician arrested for registering hundreds of telephone
lines to send fraudulent SMS messages and calls.

The Civil Guard carried out three searches in Barcelona—in a house, a
café, and a storage room—and seized numerous computer and technological equipment valued at €400,000, including a briefcase containing a
portable SIMBOX, which allowed the operator to work from anywhere via a
Wi-Fi or mobile network connection, making it difficult to locate.

They also seized 35 industrial SIMBOXes equipped with 865 modems, 852
active SIM cards, more than 60,000 national SIM cards for immediate use, 10,000 new SIM cards, a large number of computer devices, cash, and cryptocurrencies from his home.

Messages and calls were sent from a sophisticated industrial SIMBOX infrastructure, with each box housing hundreds of professional GSM
modems. Each modem works individually as if it were a mobile phone and
is capable of sending between 12 and 18 messages per minute, or 2.5
million messages per day. This network was controlled by the detainee
using a dozen computers.
Number change

The sender's phone numbers were changed frequently, remaining active for
a short time after activation to prevent them from being traced. SIM
cards were purchased in large quantities from different suppliers and activated with false identities.

Despite the large number of contacts made at once, investigators have
found that they previously studied the profiles of potential victims and
that the messages or calls were directed at specific groups.


*Sale to cybercriminals*

The arrested computer scientist was responsible for creating and
maintaining the system, selling this service to cybercriminal networks
around the world.

The operation was carried out by the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police (UOPJ) of Alicante, the Technological Investigation Team of the UOPJ of Barcelona, and the Citizen Security Unit of Tarragona. The
investigation, led by Novelda Investigating Court No. 1, remains open,
and the Civil Guard continues to examine the seized material and locate
other individuals involved and new victims. Given the value of the
seized material and the fact that this network provided infrastructure
to multiple criminal groups, the amount defrauded is estimated to be
several million euros.


*Advice for citizens*

The Civil Guard reminds citizens to be alert to possible scams,
especially at this time of year when shopping increases considerably. Therefore, we offer the following advice:

Be wary of offers that seem too good to be true.
Shop at secure sites (official websites with security certificates).
Do not open links sent to you by strangers.
Do not install applications sent via text message or email by
strangers; download them from the official app store for your phone.
Do not provide personal or banking information via text message or telephone.
When making bank transactions from a mobile device, use two-factor authentication (multiple passwords, fingerprint, verification emails, etc.).
If in doubt, check the information through official channels.
If you are the victim of a scam, it is important to report it as soon as possible.


Likewise, the Civil Guard states that citizens have at their disposal,
in addition to the option of going in person to a barracks to file a
report, the possibility of filing it electronically via the websites http://www.sede.guardiacivil.gob.es or www.guardiacivil.es, saving
waiting times, and this procedure is available for any of the following crimes: damage, theft, loss or misplacement of documentation, location
of documentation, vehicle theft, theft from inside a vehicle, and
fraudulent charges with a bank card or other electronic means of payment.

Subscribe to continue reading
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.mobile.android

On 29.11.25 15:34, Carlos E.R. wrote:

As the thing happened in Spain, the article is in Spanish. I translate
it for you, using DeepL.

<https://www.informacion.es/sucesos/sucesos-en-alicante/2025/11/28/desmantelan-alicante-granja-moviles-enviaba-124228701.html>

*Mobile phone farm sending 2.5 million SMS messages a day for cyber
scams dismantled in Alicante*

P. Cerrada

The Civil Guard in Alicante has dismantled Spain's first technological infrastructure capable of sending 2.5 million SMS messages a day and
making thousands of fraudulent calls in order to scam citizens and empty their bank accounts through deception. The dismantled mobile phone farm, which could operate simultaneously with almost 900 modems and SIM cards,
was discovered by the Civil Guard of Alicante in Barcelona following complaints filed in Aspe and Novelda by Ukrainian citizens who had been defrauded of €170,000.

A 41-year-old Ukrainian computer scientist who had worked for
multinational companies was arrested on November 18 after it was
discovered that he was using a café in Barcelona as a cover for an industrial computer system valued at €400,000, an infrastructure that he made available to any criminal group specializing in cyber fraud.

The details of Operation Mosenik, the third of its kind to be carried
out worldwide and led by a court in Novelda, were presented on Friday by
the acting head of the Civil Guard Command in Alicante, Lieutenant
Colonel Francisco Poyato; Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Darder, head of the Judicial Police and Information; Lieutenant José Carlos Vega, head of
the Judicial Police's Property Crime Team; and Corporal Javier Herrero,
head of the Alicante Civil Guard's @ Team.

Civil Guard officials have indicated that the investigation remains open
in order to identify the cybercrime networks that hired the services of
the arrested individual, and they estimate that the amount of money defrauded could amount to several million euros.

The suspect was released on bail with precautionary measures after
appearing in court, including a ban on leaving the country, and was
arrested this Friday when he attempted to leave Spain on a flight to
another country. The suspect was arrested early in the morning at El
Prat airport and was awaiting trial for violating the precautionary
measure imposed on him after being arrested for crimes of fraud,
usurpation of civil status, document forgery, computer damage, money laundering, and membership in a criminal group.

*False calls from the police*

There are many different types of cyber scams involving calls and text messages, although they all aim to steal money from their victims. In
the case investigated by the Civil Guard in Alicante, Russian and
Ukrainian citizens were receiving calls from people posing as members of
the National Police and the Bank of Spain, pressuring them to provide
their bank details and make large transfers. Some of these calls were
made in Russian or Ukrainian to target residents of these nationalities
in Spain.

According to Civil Guard officials, following the complaints in Novelda
and Aspe, an investigation was launched that led to a suspected call
center in Barcelona, which turned out to be a café and was the cover for the computer technician arrested for registering hundreds of telephone
lines to send fraudulent SMS messages and calls.

The Civil Guard carried out three searches in Barcelona—in a house, a café, and a storage room—and seized numerous computer and technological equipment valued at €400,000, including a briefcase containing a
portable SIMBOX, which allowed the operator to work from anywhere via a Wi-Fi or mobile network connection, making it difficult to locate.

They also seized 35 industrial SIMBOXes equipped with 865 modems, 852
active SIM cards, more than 60,000 national SIM cards for immediate use, 10,000 new SIM cards, a large number of computer devices, cash, and cryptocurrencies from his home.

Messages and calls were sent from a sophisticated industrial SIMBOX infrastructure, with each box housing hundreds of professional GSM
modems. Each modem works individually as if it were a mobile phone and
is capable of sending between 12 and 18 messages per minute, or 2.5
million messages per day. This network was controlled by the detainee
using a dozen computers.
Number change

The sender's phone numbers were changed frequently, remaining active for
a short time after activation to prevent them from being traced. SIM
cards were purchased in large quantities from different suppliers and activated with false identities.

Despite the large number of contacts made at once, investigators have
found that they previously studied the profiles of potential victims and that the messages or calls were directed at specific groups.

*Sale to cybercriminals*

The arrested computer scientist was responsible for creating and
maintaining the system, selling this service to cybercriminal networks around the world.

The operation was carried out by the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police (UOPJ) of Alicante, the Technological Investigation Team of the UOPJ of Barcelona, and the Citizen Security Unit of Tarragona. The
investigation, led by Novelda Investigating Court No. 1, remains open,
and the Civil Guard continues to examine the seized material and locate other individuals involved and new victims. Given the value of the
seized material and the fact that this network provided infrastructure
to multiple criminal groups, the amount defrauded is estimated to be
several million euros.

*Advice for citizens*

The Civil Guard reminds citizens to be alert to possible scams,
especially at this time of year when shopping increases considerably. Therefore, we offer the following advice:

Be wary of offers that seem too good to be true.
Shop at secure sites (official websites with security certificates).
Do not open links sent to you by strangers.
Do not install applications sent via text message or email by strangers; download them from the official app store for your phone.
Do not provide personal or banking information via text message or telephone.
When making bank transactions from a mobile device, use two-factor authentication (multiple passwords, fingerprint, verification emails, etc.).
If in doubt, check the information through official channels.
If you are the victim of a scam, it is important to report it as soon as possible.

Likewise, the Civil Guard states that citizens have at their disposal,
in addition to the option of going in person to a barracks to file a
report, the possibility of filing it electronically via the websites http://www.sede.guardiacivil.gob.es or www.guardiacivil.es, saving
waiting times, and this procedure is available for any of the following crimes: damage, theft, loss or misplacement of documentation, location
of documentation, vehicle theft, theft from inside a vehicle, and
fraudulent charges with a bank card or other electronic means of payment.

Subscribe to continue reading

What is exactly your question in one sentence?
What I do not understand is the fact that these criminals did not use RCS.
--
"De gustibus non est disputandum."
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2