A London man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a SIM-swap fraud that stole nearly £200,000 ($264,200) in cryptocurrency from four victims. Ajay Shinjin, 25, also known as AJ Marley Cruz, pleaded guilty on September 28 to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and transferring criminal property; the sentence was passed at Inner London Crown Court.
The case began in early November 2021, when BT detected unauthorized activity on its systems. Criminals transferred victims' phone numbers to SIM cards they controlled, allowing them to intercept one-time passcodes sent by banks and crypto exchanges. This gave them access to bank accounts or crypto wallets. Police said Shinjin was linked to four SIM-swap devices and received more than £44,000 ($58,124) of the stolen funds.
The four victims lost roughly £40,000, £17,000, £8,000 and £130,000 across separate incidents. One theft drained £130,000 worth of crypto between November 6 and 7. Around £27,000 of the first victim's loss went into Shinjin's personal crypto account, while the second victim's entire £17,000 loss was later found in his wallet. A third victim had about £8,000 taken from a Coinbase account on November 3, and police said Shinjin facilitated that theft.
Shinjin spent the proceeds on holidays in Dubai, a luxury flat in Canary Wharf and gold-plated teeth grills. He was first arrested at his flat in 2021 and re-arrested in October 2023 at Heathrow Airport after returning from Dubai. Detective Constable Simon Ardeman of the City of London Police called SIM-swap fraud "sophisticated and increasingly concerning" and said the conviction shows technology-assisted fraud can be investigated and prosecuted.
The case highlights the risks of SMS-based account security. It follows other enforcement actions, including charges against ten people in England in connection with a phone scam to obtain crypto wallet seed phrases and the arrest of four suspects in Poland on June 25 over alleged SIM-swap attacks on exchange accounts.
